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 Jets. 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.
103.0, 100
Those are the career quarterback ratings of Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, respectively. In NFL history, those are the No. 1 and No. 3 marks with the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes sandwiched in-between at 102.9. Rodgers’ rating is boosted by being tied for the lowest interception percentage in history (with Jacoby Brissett, of all people) but his 84.4 rating this season is the lowest of his career.
Last year, Wilson’s QB rating was close to his average at 98.0. We’ll see if he can post a similar number in his Steelers’ debut.
2.6
That’s WR George Pickens YAC-per-reception and it’s one of the worst figures in the league. It ranks 59th of 67 players this season with at least 20 receptions, and looks much closer to his rookie year figure of 2.0 than his sophomore breakout of 6.2 yards. The Steelers need that number to rise and give Pickens more chances to make plays post-catch.
104.3, 99.7
Forgive me for getting too wrapped up in QB ratings, but these are the ratings in Russell Wilson’s first game of a season compared to the rest. More specifically, his completion percentage is 69.5 percent in his first game compared to 64.4 in the rest. His TD percentage is 5.9 versus 5.6, and his INT rate 1.3-percent versus 1.9.
Of course, this situation is far different considering all his other first games came in Week 1, not mid-season.
94.1, 66.7
A non-QB rating stat, even if it looks like it. Those are the field goal percentages for Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell and New York’s Greg Zuerlein. Not that you needed more to tell you this, but Boswell is the 94 and Zuerlein the 66. It’s led the Jets to work out several kickers this week, and they could replace Zuerlein with another bad showing. He missed two field goals in Monday’s 3-point loss to the Buffalo Bills.
If this game is tight, kicking could be the difference-maker.
6.5, 83.3, 0.75
That’s the average stat line WR Davante Adams has registered in four career games against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last year, he torched the Steelers with a 13-catch, 172-yard, 2-touchdown performance with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Steelers did take him away the year before, holding him to a pair of catches for 15 yards. In Green Bay, he had 64 and 82-yard performances against the Steelers. Pittsburgh will look to hold him in check Sunday night.
