The Pittsburgh Steelers have prided themselves on protecting the football and taking the ball away. Both aspects have been crucial to their success; one will be much harder to come by on Sunday. The Washington Commanders are on a historically good run of protecting the football, you see, and with a rookie quarterback.
Through the first nine games, the Commanders only have three giveaways, including two interceptions by QB Jayden Daniels. While they have eight fumbles—three by Daniels, all in the opener—they have only lost one, by Terry McLaurin. The Steelers’ five giveaways in eight games is impressive—the Commanders’ three in nine is virtually unheard of.
You see, the last time a team only committed three or fewer giveaways through nine games was in 1937. The Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions, and the Cleveland Rams (yes, the Cleveland Rams) all limited themselves to three during that span. The Steelers had three or fewer giveaways in both 1935 and 1936, by the way.
Even with other teams having yet to have their bye week, the 2024 Steelers rank fifth in takeaways. They have 15 on the season, including the third-most interceptions with 10. And they are 5-1 when they record a takeaway or win the turnover battle.
Then again, the Steelers are also 1-1 when they both fail to record a takeaway and lose the turnover battle. They turned it over once against the Los Angeles Chargers while failing to take the ball back, but still won, 20-10. Against the Indianapolis Colts, they lost by three with two giveaways to zero takeaways.
The Commanders aren’t just great at protecting the football; they are an efficient offense. They rank third in the league in scoring and yardage, effective both in the run and pass games. The Steelers’ next opponents are the most efficient offense in the league in per-drive stats of time of possession, plays, yards, and points.
There is, of course, some correlation between having the highest scoring percentage and the second-lowest turnover percentage per drive. And the Commanders are 2-1 when they turn the ball over and 1-0 when losing the turnover battle. The Steelers would like to take the ball away, but it’s no guarantee of success.
The Commanders are one of the surprises of the season, and while Jayden Daniels deserves an immense amount of credit for it, we also have to give credit to OC Kliff Kingsbury. He may have floundered as a head coach, but the Commanders are running his offense superbly. With the bye week to consider its nuances, are the Steelers ready for arguably their biggest challenge yet?
