Jeremy Bergman’s takeaways:
- Pittsburgh powers through New Orleans. An historic first game in France was just another walk in the park for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers’ offense. Pittsburgh’s balanced attack, paced by Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle (season-high 86 total yards) with a smattering of splash plays from Rodgers, ran through a Saints defense that bent to the Steelers’ will, but rarely broke. On the afternoon, Pittsburgh had only seven drives and found the end zone just once, but its long drives (four of 11-plus plays) killed clock, wearing down New Orleans’ defense and keeping the Saints’ offense off the field. Warren continued his hot streak, recording over 100 rushing yards for the third time this season and over 125 scrimmage yards for the fourth time. A 51-yard bomb down the field to DK Metcalf in the first half was Rodgers’ biggest shot of the day and resulted in Pittsburgh’s only TD, a post-up play to Darnell Washington. But the Steelers for the most part dinked and dunked down the Stade de France pitch; Rodgers upped his air yards per attempt to 6.6, rich by his standards this season. Rodgers told ESPN’s Molly McGrath after the game that he was still upset with the offense, which was “not playing as well as we can,” citing penalties, poor protection, etc. But under his guidance, Pittsburgh is doing just enough, and when Rodgers needs to play hero ball, as he did on the essentially game-sealing 8-yard scramble on Pittsburgh’s final six-minute long dive, there are few better.
- Shough can’t save the day. The Saints were all Tyler Shough, up to their final snaps of Sunday’s game, for better or worse. The second-year QB, with possibly two banged-up hands, had to do it all in Paris, as New Orleans’ run game was non-existent (11 yards on 14 combined carries from Kendre Miller and Alvin Kamara, the fewest yards per designed run by any team in a game this season, per Next Gen Stats). Shough completed 30 of his 38 attempts on the day, and four Saints receivers tallied between 54 and 57 receiving yards as a result, including Kamara, who led the team with seven catches, in lieu of taking fruitless handoffs. But all Shough and the Saints had to show for their effort by day’s end was 10 points on just six drives. Four of New Orleans’ marches ended inside the Pittsburgh 35, a testament to Shough’s ability to facilitate the ball and pick up first downs to extend drives (four of at least 11 plays). Shough produced a successful play on 59.5% of his dropbacks, the highest rate in a game in his career, but the QB’s worst plays of the day sank the Saints’ chances of victory. His interception inside the 10-yard line to Payton Wilson on the second half-opening drive was a cruel coda to a 7:28-long march. Then, on New Orleans’ final possession, Shough had two attempts batted down at the line of scrimmage and was pummeled by Patrick Queen for a sack on the ensuing third down. The Saints punted the ball away with 5:52 left, and in a game of lengthy drives, that served as their final possession.
- First and worst. The Steelers and Saints return from France with far different fortunes. At 5-2, Pittsburgh will assure itself at least a share of the lead in the AFC North entering Week 8, with a critical rematch with Cleveland lurking next Sunday. On the other sideline, New Orleans falls to 2-5 and enters the rest of Sunday’s slate tied in the loss column for last place in the NFC South. Whereas the Steelers needed to keep pace in the AFC North, a division of heavyweights, the Saints falling further behind the Panthers and Falcons in October isn’t quite a death knell. But given the ultimatum laid down by owner Gayle Benson on coach Kellen Moore and general manager Mickey Loomis earlier this month, the result is super disappointing for the Superdome denizens as they head into their bye week.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Steelers-Saints (via NFL Pro): Jaylen Warren gained 71 of his 101 rushing yards after contact, his second-most in a game this season, and forced five missed tackles. Warren finished with 46 yards after the catch, increasing his league-leading YAC total to 360 this season.
NFL Research: Pittsburgh and New Orleans combined for eight drives of 11-plus plays, the most in a non-overtime game and tied for the most in an NFL game since at least 2000 (Panthers at Bengals in Week 6, 2014).
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