It’s another victory Monday. Let’s get weird about it.
– We gotta start with this elite Pittsburgh Steelers defense. They’re the first team since the 2009 Denver Broncos to begin a season holding their opponents to no more than 10 points, something we previewed before the game. Atlanta had 10 points, Denver six, and Los Angeles 10 on Sunday.
Since the turn of the century, the only other teams to accomplish it are the 2005 Indianapolis Colts, 2004 Seattle Seahawks, and 2001 Green Bay Packers.
Since World War II, the Steelers had only done it one other time prior to 2024, doing the same in 1973.
– The Steelers allowed minus-five net yards in the second half. Meaning you and I had more offense than the Chargers in the third and fourth quarter.
– Through three games, Pittsburgh has allowed a grand total of six second-half points. They shut out Atlanta, gave up two field goals to Denver, and allowed zero to Los Angeles. Incredible stuff.
– The Steelers recorded their first five-sack game since Week 2 of last season when they took down Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson six times.
– Although it’s pretty intuitive, the Steelers are 42-5-1 in the Mike Tomlin era when their defense records at least five sacks. They’ve won their last 14 such games, their last loss coming to the Baltimore Ravens in overtime in 2019.
– Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins came into the game averaging 9.9 yards per carry his first two weeks. He managed just 2.9 YPC in this one. He had 9 rushing yards after halftime.
Dobbins had rushed for 93, 113, and 120 yards in his three previous contests against the Steelers, all with the Ravens. He wouldn’t have that kind of success this time.
– Nick Herbig had the first multi-sack game of his NFL career. It was his first such game since Nov. 12, 2022, a three-sack performance as a Wisconsin Badger against Iowa.
– Cam Heyward’s sack officially puts him ahead of James Harrison for second-most in Steelers’ history. He only trails T.J. Watt, who is a half-sack shy of 100.
– FS Minkah Fitzpatrick finished the game with two tackles, his fewest in a game he started and finished since Week 16 of the 2022 season, the Christmas Eve game where Franco Harris passed away hours before and had his jersey retired at half.
That’s not a critique of Fitzpatrick either. Games where linebackers lead the way in tackles is a good thing. Patrick Queen paced the group with eight.
– The Steelers ran 20 more plays than the Chargers in this one, 65 to 45. Through three games this season, the Steelers are out-snapping their opponents 189-151. They have more snaps than their opponent in all three contests.
Through the first three games of last season? The opposition out-snapped Pittsburgh 214-174. It’s a swing of 78 snaps in the Steelers’ favor, essentially more than a full game’s worth.
– Pittsburgh has also won the time-of-possession battle in all three games of 2024, holding it for at least 32 minutes every game.
While that isn’t incredibly rare — they also had such a streak late last season — the fourth-quarter numbers are pretty stark. In the final quarter, Pittsburgh is out-possessing its opponent 26:32 to 18:28. An eight-minute advantage. That’s huge.
– Flipping over to the offense, WR Calvin Austin III led the charge with 95 yards receiving. That’s the most of his NFL career. It’s also the most he’s put up in a game in nearly three years, last doing so in November 2021, his next-to-last college game. That day, he went for 105 yards in a loss to Houston.
– Four different Steelers caught at least four passes Sunday: George Pickens, Calvin Austin, Najee Harris, and Pat Freiermuth. That happened only twice all of last year, Weeks 1 and 8. Spread the ball around and get everyone involved.
– One area where the Steelers must still make strides? The red zone. They’re just 2-of-8 there. However, they did take a kneel down at the Chargers’ 1-yard line to run out the final seconds yesterday. The data is a bit skewed but even in proper context, there’s work to be done.
– By beating Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers, they handed him his first coaching loss since Dec. 31, 2022, when TCU upset his Michigan Wolverines in the playoffs. The Wolverines ran the table to win the national championship last season.
It’s Harbaugh’s first NFL loss since December 2014, his penultimate game with the San Francisco 49ers. That loss? It came against the then-San Diego Chargers, the team he now coaches. Just in a new location.
– Always try to give you a special teams stat. K Chris Boswell’s 62-yard field goal attempt was the longest of his NFL career, passing the 61-yard attempt he missed against the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. But it is not the longest attempt in team history.
That honor goes to Jeff Reed, who trotted out for a 65-yard attempt in 2007. With the advantage of playing in Denver’s thin air, Reed tried his best at the end of the half. His kick was accurate but just short, caught in the back of the end zone by DB Dre Bly. Here’s a look at that kick.
– Finally, a lovely stat. Since 1937, there have been only two teams to win their first three games of a season while scoring no more than three total touchdowns. The 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 1988 Buffalo Bills. The Steelers have three: TE Darnell Washington and WR Calvin Austin III have receiving scores while QB Justin Fields has the team’s lone rushing score.
The Bills in 1988 had only two. A RB Thurman Thomas touchdown run and a touchdown catch from RB Robb Riddick. But they’re the only two in the last 86 years. That year, Buffalo’s offense came alive with three touchdowns in Week 4 against…the Pittsburgh Steelers, a 36-28 win.
It gets better. The last NFL team before 1937 to achieve such a feat? The 1936 Pittsburgh…Pirates, the original name of the Steelers franchise from 1933-1940. Guard George Kakasic returned a fumble for a touchdown, Art Strutt rushed for a 3-yard score, and Bill Sortet caught an 11-yard pass for six as the Pirates scored 10 points in each of their first three games and won them all.
So the 2024 and 1936 versions of the Steelers are basically the same.
The other teams in NFL history to match Pittsburgh and Buffalo? Some of the teams we mentioned last week. The 1934 Detroit Lions, the 1923 Duluth Kelleys, the 1922 and 1923 Chicago Cardinals, and the 1922 Chicago Bears.
