Football is back and so is our weekly Stats of the Weird. For a Week 1 game, we have plenty to keep you busy from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ exciting 34-32 win over the New York Jets. Dig in and enjoy.
– Where to even begin with this crazy game. The 66 combined points between the Steelers and Jets is the most in a Steelers Week 1 game since 1981 when Pittsburgh fell to the Kansas City Chiefs, 37-33.
The 66 points are third-most combined in a Steelers opener, just behind the 34-34 tie against the New York Giants to begin the 1966 season. Overtime didn’t begin until 1974.
– Pittsburgh’s 34 points are the most in an opener since the team posted 38 in a convincing 38-16 win over the Washington Redskins in 2016. The 32 allowed are the team’s most in Week 1 since New England blitzed them to in 33-3 win in 2019.
– Aaron Rodgers threw for four touchdowns in his Steelers debut. He’s the first quarterback of the post-Ben Roethlisberger era to throw four, a span of 53 games. The last time a Steelers quarterback threw four touchdowns in any regular-season game was Roethlisberger in 2020, tossing four in a 36-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Roethlisberger also threw four in the 2020 Wild Card loss to the Cleveland Browns.
– In Steelers’ history, Rodgers is just the fourth quarterback to throw at least for touchdown passes in a season opener. Roethlisberger was the last to do it in 2007, blowing out the Cleveland Browns, 34-7. Mark Malone tossed five in 1985 while Bobby Layne threw four back in 1960.
– Here’s a statement stat about his game. Aaron Rodgers is the first Steelers quarterback to throw for four touchdowns in his Pittsburgh debut.
– Four different Steelers caught a touchdown pass Sunday: Calvin Austin III, Ben Skowronek, Jaylen Warren, and Jonnu Smith. That hasn’t happened since 2018 when five different Steelers scored through the air: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jaylen Samuels, Antonio Brown, Vance McDonald, and Jesse James. Of that group, only Smith-Schuster is still in the NFL.
– Over its last two games, last year’s Wild Card loss and yesterday, Pittsburgh has allowed 481 rushing yards.
– Pittsburgh won Sunday despite rushing for 53 yards and giving up 182. Entering the game, the Steelers were just 4-28 when rushing for 55 yards or less and giving up 180 or more. Three of the four prior wins have come since 2020. The other? You guessed it — 1933, the Steelers’ first season when the team (then called the Pittsburgh Pirates) rushed for 49 while giving up 240 in a 16-14 win over the Boston Redskins.
– My favorite weird Steelers stat. RB Kenneth Gainwell forced a key fumble on kick coverage to set up Rodgers’ fourth touchdown pass. Gainwell is the first Steelers running back (not fullback, mind you) to force a fumble since “Famous” Amos Zereoue forced a fumble while covering a punt against the Jacksonville Jaguars – also in a Week 1 game – back in 2001.
Zereoue’s play turned out to be less impactful. Unless you’re the Jaguars. Jacksonville recovered the fumble and ran it down to the Steelers’ 3-yard line. Throwback to this wild play.
Just to add to the crazy, the Jaguars missed the field goal, leaving them with no points on the drive.
– TE Jonnu Smith finished the game with five receptions for 15 yards. He’s the first non-Steelers running back in history to have at least five receptions for no more than 15 yards. There are four running backs who have done so: Jaylen Warren (2023), Mewelde Moore (2008), Franco Harris (1976), and Dick Hoak (1968). But Smith is in his own category as a non-back.
– K Chris Boswell made two field goals from at least 56 yards. His 60-yarder sets a personal and franchise record. Dating back to last season, Boswell is 15-of-17 from 50-plus yards. That’s 88.2 percent. To put that in perspective, that beats his career average of 88.1 percent from any distance. An 88.2-percent career mark from any distance would rank third in NFL history.
Boswell, by the way, now holds the third-best field goal percentage in NFL history. His two makes yesterday surpassed Eddy Piñeiro for third on the all-time list, Boswell now only trailing Harrison Butker (88.8 percent) and Justin Tucker (89.1 percent).
– Pittsburgh recorded just one sack, Alex Highsmith crunching Justin Fields in the second half. It’s the first time since 2019 the Steelers registered just one sack in an opener.
– The Steelers rushed for just two first downs Sunday. They hadn’t won any regular-season game with so few of them since 2021 against the Tennessee Titans. Pittsburgh had more first downs from penalties (three) than it did from rushes (two).
– Dating back to last season and including the playoffs, T.J. Watt has gone five-straight games without a sack. His previous long droughts were three games, done during his 2017 rookie year and again in 2018.
