Welcome to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers “stat pack,” five numbers you need to know to get ready for the upcoming game. They could relate to the opponent or the Steelers themselves and could involve an individual, unit, or something else. All to help you become the smartest fan for gameday.
35
If Pittsburgh manages to run the ball 35 times against the Denver Broncos, they’ll have 76 rushing attempts across their first two games. That’ll be the most they’ve had to start a season since 1999, when they ran it 93 times in their first two games. In the Tomlin era, the high mark is 75, set in his first season, 2007.
20
RB Najee Harris has carried the ball at least 20 times in three straight games, with a chance to make it four on Sunday. If so, he’ll have two career streaks with at least four games of 20-plus carries. That would make him and Le’Veon Bell the only two backs to do so during Tomlin’s tenure. Bell did it on four such occasions throughout his Steelers’ career.
25
The number of touchdown passes the Pittsburgh Steelers have thrown since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, 2022 to present. That’s last in football and three less than the 31st-ranked New York Jets. By comparison, the Kansas City Chiefs have nearly tripled that figure with 70 touchdowns over that span. Pittsburgh did not throw for a touchdown last week. In fact, they didn’t find the end zone once.
3.06
Justin Fields’ snap to throw time against the Falcons, per NextGenStats. While a one-week sample size, that’s right in line with his career numbers. Last year, he sat at 3.23 seconds (the NFL’s longest) and 3.12 seconds in 2022. Last week, it was tied for the fourth-longest snap-to-throw time of any QB, only ahead of Kyler Murray, C.J. Stroud, and Jalen Hurts. It’s a number to watch going forward.
16
The number of rush yards over expected Najee Harris recorded on his 20-yard run against the Falcons. Per NextGen, it was the 12th-most yards over expected, the play believing he would only gain 4 yards. Harris cut the run back and finished hard for his biggest gain of the day.
Bonus Stat – 2007
One for the road. 2007 was the last time the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense allowed 10 or fewer points in back-to-back games to begin a season. That was Tomlin’s first year, beating the Cleveland Browns 34-7 in Week 1 before following that up with a 26-3 win against the Tennessee Titans. The Denver Broncos scored just one touchdown in their opener, a rushing score by rookie QB Box Nix late in the fourth quarter.
