Welcome to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers “stat pack,” five numbers you need to know to get ready for the upcoming game against the New York Giants. 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.
29
That’s the number of third down targets Giants WR Wan’Dale Robinson has this season, tied for the league-most entering Week 8. For context, that’s the same number of targets TE Pat Freiermuth has had all season. Robinson has been an unusually high target on third down, but it has largely been in a check-down/underneath type of role, recording only six third-down conversions this year. Still, the Steelers need to watch for No. 17 on third down.
Three
That’s how many games the New York Giants have been held under 10 points this year, most in the NFL entering Week 8. The only other team that’s “accomplished” it more than once is the Carolina Panthers, who have done it twice. New York has been held under 10 points in each of their last two games, scoring 7 and 3 points across Weeks 6 and 7.
Pittsburgh has only held an opponent under that mark once this year, giving up six to the Denver Broncos, but it has held two other clubs to exactly 10 points. Pittsburgh has a good chance to do it again versus the Giants, though it’s hardly a guarantee.
1,160
The projected number of rushing yards for RB Najee Harris to finish with. If so, it’ll mark his fourth-straight 1,000-yard rushing season. It would make him the first player to do so in his first four years since Chris Johnson in 2011, and it would make him the only 13th running back in NFL history to join that club. It’s an exclusive list of names we’ll discuss for a “stats of the weird” later on in the season, I’m sure.
56.7, 23.8
Pittsburgh’s third-down defense in Weeks 4 and 5 was the first figure, 56.7 percent. It was very bad. Their third-down defense in Weeks 6 and 7 was 23.8 percent. It was very good.
For context, that 56.7 percent mark ranked 30th over those two weeks. But 23.8 percent in the last two weeks is fifth-best in the NFL. This is a big-time turnaround and mirrors more of what the Steelers did during their 3-0 start than their two-game losing streak.
The Giants’ offense enters this week 22nd on third down this season, converting 34.7 percent of the time.
340
The *listed* weight of Giants star NT Dexter Lawrence. That’s notable because he’s also No. 1, the league’s sack leader, with nine of them entering this week. He is the first player in NFL history to weigh at least 340 pounds (and you can bet he’s a couple of biscuits heavier) to record at least nine sacks in a season, and we’re not even halfway through the year. The previous record was set by Oakland Raiders’ NT Grady Jackson’s 8 in 2000.
Minimizing Lawrence with fourth-string center Ryan McCollum and whatever help Pittsburgh gives him will be central to their offensive success.
