Steelers punish Saints on the ground, win 16-10 in Paris
· Yahoo Sports
The Pittsburgh Steelers rode their run game to a third consecutive victory, defeating the New Orleans Saints 16-10. The Steelers are now 5-2, and are now tied with the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs for the most wins in the AFC.
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From the opening drive, the Steelers made it clear they would ride the run game against a Saints’ defense that entered the game with the worst run defense in the NFL in terms of EPA. Jaylen Warren totaled 43 yards on the ground on the first drive, but the Steelers stalled out after an incomplete fade to DK Metcalf in the end zone, Chris Boswell made it a 3-0 game.
The first quarter would see only one drive a piece, as the Saints punted following an 11-play drive. Pittsburgh one-upped them with a punt after a 13-play drive. The Saints put a field goal on the board to even the score, which then led to the Steelers driving 77 yards in six plays on a Darnell Washington touchdown grab. The touchdown pass was the 540th of Aaron Rodgers’ career, which moved him ahead of Peyton Manning into third place. The Saints answered back, though, with a 12-play drive that ended on a Devaughn Vele touchdown on 4th-and-goal from the one yard-line.
The Steelers scored on their ensuing drive, adding another Boswell field goal to go up 13-10. And just as it looked like the Saints were about to score another touchdown, the game flipped. Payton Wilson picked off Tyler Shough in the red zone, killing what could have been a drive that tied the game or put New Orleans up by a score. The Steelers would add a third Boswell field goal to go up 16-10, and the Saints would never reach the red zone again. Daniel Carlson missed a 52-yard field goal, and New Orleans would go four plays and punt the next time they had the ball. The Steelers took over with just under six minutes left in the game, and wouldn’t allow New Orleans to touch the ball again. A Rodgers third-down scramble led to the Steelers running the clock down to a minute left, and an offsides call on the Saints on a fourth Boswell field goal allowed the Steelers to kneel the game out to get their fifth win.
In the keys to victory, we talked about the Steelers needing to lean into the run game and being efficient on third down. Well, they out-rushed the Saints 148-18 and were 10-of-16 on third down. Jaylen Warren rushed for 101 yards and added 36 yards through the air. Rico Dowdle added 41 yards rushing and 45 yards receiving, respectively. On defense, Patrick Queen had a strong day, racking up a team-high 10 tackles and a sack on what was the final offensive play for the Saints. T.J. Watt added a sack, and Pittsburgh had six tackles for loss on the day.
The Steelers will host the Browns next week with a chance to get to 6-2 ahead of their Week 9 bye week.
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