Unless you live under a rock, you know that the Pittsburgh Steelers have been winning the ultimate battle on the scoreboard in their current two-game winning streak. Getting those victories over the Raiders and Jets by margins of 32-13 and 37-15 are unusual in the Steel City, and refreshing to see.
Specifically, most of this damage has been done in the second half. So, I wanted to look at how the Steelers fared on the scoreboard last week and in the regular season coming out of the locker room so far across the NFL in 2024.
First, here are last games point differentials (points scored – points allowed):
Here, we see Pittsburgh was one of the most dominant second half teams of Week Seven. The Steelers scored 24 points, while allowing none, leading to a massive 24-point differential that was second-best. The only team better was the Buffalo Bills, scoring 27 points, also with none allowed, for a 27-point differential in their 34-10 victory over the Titans.
The more expected part of the strong point total is the fuel of Pittsburgh’s identity, defense. The Steelers were one of only four teams to shut out their opponent in the second half in Week Seven. The others were Buffalo, Indianapolis, and Philadelphia.
Arguably, Pittsburgh’s was the most impressive, with those teams facing the Titans, Dolphins, and Giants. The latter is Pittsburgh’s next opponent, and hopefully the Steelers can dominate on the scoreboard again this week including the second half.
I was also curious to how things have looked across all seven games in 2024 so far:
The Pittsburgh Steelers stand alone as the most dominant team in second half point differential through the first seven games of the 2024 season. Their 14.9 second half points scored per game are obviously on the rise, and come out to second-best, while the defenses stifling 5.1 is the leagues best number. I knew things were good, but wow.
Yes, the flipside is not doing enough in the first half, particularly scoring consistently enough. But with Mike Tomlin, one of the best coaches in the NFL, halftime adjustments and finishing games strong has been on full display overall in 2024.
To close, here is a table of the season results league-wide for more context of this:
What a pleasant sight. Not only are the Pittsburgh Steelers tops in the NFL, but nearly two whole differential points above the second place Bills, and substantially higher than the rest of the league. Here’s to hoping the Steelers offense continues to score more points, shut offenses out, and dominate in this stat. Their next challenge lends to optimism for just that, facing the 2-5 NY Giants, who rank 29th in second half point differential.
