Stats that stood out in a wild Steelers victory over Jacksonville
In a game that many people thought was long over by the 4th quarter, we witnessed a vintage Ben Roethlisberger-led comeback by the Steelers. With their 20-16 victory over Jacksonville, Pittsburgh moves to 7-2-1 and remains in 1st place in the AFC North. While it was ugly for the better part of 55+ minutes, the stats were still full of impressive performances that built upon solid seasons for the Steelers.
Big Ben
More heroics late in the game by Ben Roethlisberger. During the 1st half, Roethlisberger threw 8/19 for 53 yards passing, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, and had a 10.1 passer rating. In the 2nd half he put together a line of 19/28 for 261 yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, a 106.4 passer rating, and 1 (game-winning) rushing TD. His ability to turn a bad performance into a memorable one is what make him a future Hall of Famer.
More on Ben Roethlisberger; this season, he has 22 rushes for 76 yards (3.5 YPC) and 3 rushing touchdowns. That is the most rushing yards and the best average he has had since 2013 when he rushed for 99 yards (3.7 YPC) on the season and the most rushing touchdowns he has had since also rushing for 3 in 2005.
AB
Antonio Brown extended his touchdown streak to 8 games after catching his 11th touchdown of the season. He is now tied with Buddy Dial for the franchise record with the most consecutive games in a season with a touchdown reception. Dial had 8-straight games with a touchdown reception in 1959 and 11-straight games between 1959-1960.
Antonio Brown had a 78-yard reception today, which was the 2nd-longest reception of his career (he had a 79-yarder in 2011).
59
JuJu Smith-Schuster now has 59 receptions in 2018, eclipsing his rookie mark of 58 last season.
6
Blake Bortles attempted only 18 passes in Week 11. The Steelers sacked him 6 times. Not a bad sack rate.
10
Through 10 games, T.J. Watt now has 10 sacks. He is the 1st Steelers defender to have at least 10 sacks in the 1st 10 games of a season since James Harrison also tallied 10 sacks in the 1st 10 games of 2009. He is also the 1st outside linebacker with double-digit sacks since 2010 when both James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley both reached double-digits.
16
T.J. Watt now has 16 sacks over his 1st 2 seasons, eclipsing LaMarr Woodley’s franchise record of 15.5 sacks by a player in their 1st 2 seasons.
6
While we’re on the topic of sacks, Javon Hargrave is in the middle of a historic season. After notching 2 sacks against the Jaguars, Hargrave now has 5 sacks in 2018. That is the most sacks by a Steelers’ nose tackle since Gerald Williams had 6 sacks in 1990. No Steelers’ nose tackle has ever had more than 6 sacks in a single season since sacks became an official stat in 1982. Gary Dunn also tallied 6 sacks in 1982 and 1983.
4
Back to T.J. Watt. His 4 forced fumbles (so far) this season are the most in a single season by a Steelers’ defender since Troy Polamalu had 5 in 2013. Not bad company.
21
Over the past 6 games, the Steelers have held opponents to 21 points or less. That is the longest such streak since 2012 when they held opponents to 21 points or less for 7 straight games (Week 7-13).
300
The Steelers have held opposing offenses to under 300 yards of total offense for 5 straight games. That is the longest streak for the defense since 2012 when they held opposing offenses to less than 300 yards for 8 straight games.
15
The Steelers are now 15-1-1 in their last 17 road games, dating back to November 20, 2016.
The Steelers winning streak continues this week, putting together a string of 6 consecutive wins.
