Bend, Don't Break: How the Steelers' Defense, Ground Game and Kicker Won in Paris
New Orleans completed 30 of 38 passes for 278 yards and moved the ball between the 20s all afternoon. Pittsburgh scored one touchdown. On those facts alone, the Saints looked like the better offense. They lost 16-10, and the reason is what happened once they got close.
The Defense: Yards Between the 20s, Stops Inside Them
The Saints gained 281 yards and scored 10 points, about 28 yards per point. Pittsburgh needed 21. That gap is the defensive story. The Steelers conceded yardage in the middle of the field but tightened as New Orleans approached scoring range, and the Saints went 1 of 3 in the red zone and 6 of 12 on third down. They scored nothing after halftime.
Saints scoring chance | How it ended | Points |
Second quarter, 4th-and-12 at the 20 | Settled for Carlson's 38-yard field goal | 3 |
Second quarter | Vele 1-yard touchdown on fourth down | 7 |
Start of second half, red zone | Shough intercepted (Payton Wilson credited) | 0 |
Fourth quarter | Carlson missed from 52 yards | 0 |
The interception was the pivot. New Orleans opened the second half trailing only 13-10 and was driving when the pass was picked off. Pittsburgh turned that into Boswell's third field goal and a 16-10 lead the Saints never threatened to erase. Run defense made the stops possible: New Orleans carried 17 times for 18 yards, with the longest run of six, so every drive had to be won through the air, and passing drives are easier to derail near the goal line. Reports also credit T.J. Watt and Patrick Queen with a sack each, and Queen with 10 tackles.
The honest caveat: New Orleans converted both of its fourth-down attempts, including the touchdown. The defense bent, and it broke once. But it never broke twice.
The Running Game: Efficiency, Not Volume
Pittsburgh rushed 30 times for 148 yards, 4.9 per carry, against 1.1 for New Orleans. Jaylen Warren led with 18 carries for 101 yards (5.6) and a long of 29. The Saints' recap noted that many of his runs came on third-and-short, and that is what produced Pittsburgh's 10 conversions in 16 tries (62.5%). Rico Dowdle added 41 yards on nine carries, and Warren and Dowdle also caught nine passes between them.
Rusher | Att | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
Jaylen Warren | 18 | 101 | 5.6 | 29 | 0 |
Rico Dowdle | 9 | 41 | 4.6 | 16 | 0 |
Aaron Rodgers | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 8 | 0 |
Steelers total | 30 | 148 | 4.9 | 29 | 0 |
Saints total | 17 | 18 | 1.1 | 6 | 0 |
The result was a 32:03 to 27:57 edge in possession. Pittsburgh's final drive lasted nearly six minutes, and the Saints' offense never saw the ball again.
The Steelers' Short Passing Game
Aaron Rodgers completed 19 of 30 passes for 212 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, a 95.4 rating. The pass game complemented the run rather than competing with it. Remove DK Metcalf's 51-yard catch and Rodgers completed 18 passes for 161 yards, 8.9 per catch. No other reception went longer than 26 yards. Nine catches, for 81 yards, went to the running backs, and the touchdown was a 4-yard throw to Darnell Washington on a six-play, 77-yard drive.
Receiver | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
DK Metcalf | 2 | 56 | 28.0 | 51 | 0 |
Rico Dowdle | 6 | 45 | 7.5 | 13 | 0 |
Jaylen Warren | 3 | 36 | 12.0 | 26 | 0 |
Germie Bernard | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | 20 | 0 |
B. Smith | 2 | 24 | 12.0 | 20 | 0 |
Pat Freiermuth | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 11 | 0 |
Darnell Washington | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 1 |
Source: Saints official box score; CBS Pittsburgh (rating). Averages are calculated.
These quick throws also limit the damage from pressure. Chase Young and Carl Granderson each had 1.5 sacks of Rodgers, so he was sacked three times, but the offense avoided turnovers and kept its third-down efficiency.
Special Teams: The Margin
Each team scored one touchdown, seven points apiece. The six-point margin came entirely from the kickers. Chris Boswell made field goals from 28, 47 and 38 yards, nine of Pittsburgh's 16 points. Daniel Carlson made one of two for New Orleans, a 38-yarder, and missed 52 yards.
Kicker | Result | Impact |
Chris Boswell (PIT) | 3 field goals: 28, 47, 38 | Nine points; 47-yarder gave PIT a 13-10 halftime lead |
Daniel Carlson (NO) | 1 of 2: made 38, missed 52 | A make would have made it 16-13 |
Boswell's three kicks matter because Pittsburgh converted only one of four red-zone trips into a touchdown. Without them, a 7-10 loss was the alternative. Carlson's miss kept New Orleans needing a touchdown rather than a field goal.
Bottom Line on the Steeler's Victory in Paris
Pittsburgh won with its defense, its efficiency and its kicker. The defense gave up yards but not points, the running game and short passes kept the offense on schedule, and Boswell supplied the margin. The weakness to fix is red-zone finishing. Against Cleveland next, a repeat of one touchdown in four trips will be harder to survive.
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