Stats that stood out despite Steelers loss in Week 14
This has been a tough week for the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, its coaches and players, and for fans. The loss in Oakland to a Raiders team that looked like it might get the first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft was a heartbreaker for the Steelers. The Raiders – despite having over 100 yards due to penalties, despite terrible turf that even has the team saying they may be sued over leaving for Las Vegas, but they won’t play in the Coliseum next season, despite having one of the oldest rosters in the league – won and it didn’t taste good in anyone’s mouth beyond those dedicated to the silver and black. Not everything the Steelers accomplished was as upsetting as the final score, however. Choosing to accentuate the positive, I present to you the stats that stood out despite the Week 14 loss for the Steelers.
Another huge week for JuJu Smith-Schuster
Smith-Schuster is a feel-good story for the Steelers organization in 2018. In his sophomore season, the young receiver has shown he should be in the conversation for one of the very best second-year players in the NFL this year. It wouldn’t be a stretch to put him in a Top 5 list at this point. It has helped that Antonio Brown often draws the double-teams from opponents, but against the Raiders Smith-Schuster went from doing a dance to music playing over the stadium P.A. system to straight-up balling.
On Sunday, Smith-Schuster recorded his first multi-touchdown receiving game of his brief, but entertaining, NFL career. It was the second multi-touchdown game of his career (Dec. 31, 2007, vs. Cleveland Browns: 1 receiving, 1 kick/punt returning). The fan-favorite led all players in receptions (eight), receiving yards (130) and touchdown catches (two) – all game highs. Through 14 weeks of play, Smith-Schuster now has a single-season high in receptions (91 catches for 1,234 yards and 1,247 yards from scrimmage). Those 91 receptions are the tenth-most by any Steelers player in a single season and have him ranked between Hines Ward (2001, 94) and Antonio Brown (2018, 86). He has recorded at least 100 receiving yards in ten career regular-season games and seven-of-13 games in 2018 alone. His two touchdowns on Sunday were his fifth and sixth touchdown receptions of the 2018 season and upped his career total to 13.
Mike Hilton a leader on defense
With all the grief in the Steelers’ defensive backfield over the past few seasons, with players being hot and cold, it’s been a relief to have Hilton playing at a high level. Against the Raiders, Hilton (#28) led all Pittsburgh defenders with eight total tackles (six solo), two tackles for a loss, a quarterback hit, a sack and a defensive fumble recovery.
Hilton’s sack on Oakland quarterback Derek Carr in the second quarter was his first sack of 2018 and fifth of his NFL career and went for a six-yard loss for the Raiders. His fumble recovery was a result of a team sack on Carr in the third quarter and was the second time Hilton has recovered a loose ball this season (he also did so on Sept. 24, 2018, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
4
With a sack of Carr (for a loss of ten yards) in the first quarter, defensive end Stephon Tuitt increased his 2018 sack total to 4.0 making his career total 18.5 with the Steelers. He added three tackles (two solo), two tackles for losses, a quarterback hit, and a pass defense.
500
In Week 14, tight end Vance McDonald became the first Steelers tight end to record at least 500 receiving yards in a single season since 2015 (Heath Miller: 535) and continues to be an integral part of the Pittsburgh offense. Against the Raiders, McDonald caught for passes for 37 yards and has 44 receptions for 509 yards on the season.
92
In his first career NFL start, rookie running back Jaylen Samuels recorded 92 yards from scrimmage. 64 yards came in the passing game. 28 yards were earned by rushing the ball.
10,973
That’s a huge number. So, what does it represent? It is the career receiving yards total for Antonio Brown. Brown now sits as the receiver with the second-most receiving yards in Steelers franchise history (Hines Ward, 1998-2011: 12, 083). Since the 2013 season, Brown has recorded 668 receptions (second-most by any NFL player in a six-year span in league history (Wes Welker: 672, 2007-12), and 8,9111 receiving yards (the most by any NFL player in a six-year span in league history (Jerry Rice: 8,759, 1990-95).
5
On Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger became just one of five quarterbacks in NFL history to post at least 250 passing yards and a touchdown in each of their first ten or more games of a season. Roethlisberger joins Drew Brees (16: 2011), Tom Brady (12: 2015), Neil Lomas (11: 1984) and Peyton Manning (10: 2013).
