It was a great feeling seeing the Pittsburgh Steelers come out on top Sunday when they secured their third win of the 2022 NFL season when they defeated the New Orleans Saints by a score of 20-10. It was an even better sight to see a couple of key players return from injury, T.J. Watt and Damontae Kazee, both made splash plays for the defense and helped return the Steelers' defense to the potentially dominant unit we all believed they would be.
Steelers' TJ Watt celebrates after a big play in his return against the New Orleans Saints | Photo Credit: Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
In addition to the returns of Watt and Kazee that helped lead to the success of the defense, Steeler Nation also was very pleasantly surprised when the team's offense put together their best performance of the season from start to finish.
The most impressive part of the Steelers' offensive performance is the number of splash plays they were able to generate against the Saints. Coming into the game, the Steelers were one of the worst teams in the NFL at generating big plays on offense. This would cause them to consistently have to put together long drives, string together several first downs and play almost error-free football in order to put points on the board.
That all changed on Sunday as the Steelers finished the game with six plays of 20 or more yards, with four of them being on the ground and two from the arm of Kenny Pickett. Coming into their Week 10 matchup, the Steelers had zero, I repeat, ZERO rushes of 20 or more yards in 2022. That is an incredible change in performance coming out of a bye week.
Steelers Get Big Plays From Multiple Players Across the Offense
In addition to making these incredible splash plays, they also did this by spreading the ball around, as five different individuals contributed. On the ground, Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, Kenny Pickett and George Pickens all managed to get a nice chunk of yardage, with the longest going to Harris for 36 yards. A 36-yard run for Harris is only one yard lower than his career high which happened last season.
Through the air, Pickett managed to connect with Diontae Johnson and Warren for long gains. Johnson's 36-yard reception came on a shot down the sideline in the third quarter, a play that Steeler Nation recognizes all too well. Warren was the lone player with multiple big gains. While there wasn't too much of an uptick in Warren's snaps or touches overall like some suggested there could be, including Mike Tomlin himself, he made the most of his opportunities giving the Steelers a shot in the arm on multiple occasions.
Even with the pleasant surprise of several big gains throughout the game, the Steelers offense still seemed to be missing something on that side of the ball. Yes, it was their best game of the year by any metric you look at including total yards, first downs, etc. Even with all that, they have still yet to have the offense score more than 20 points in a game this season, as Sunday marked the third time this year the offense put up exactly 20.
Steelers' Matthew Wright attempts 1 of his 4 field goals against the New Orleans Saints | Photo Credit: Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Not all of the blame goes on the offense for not breaking the 20-point barrier, as Matthew Wright who is filling in for the injured Chris Boswell missed two field goals, each being from 39 and 48 yards out respectively. That would've put the team total at 26 points scored on the day, but the Steelers' offense didn't do Wright any favors on his attempts. The first miss from 39 yards out came on a drive that the Steelers marched down to the Saints' 10-yard line. The drive stalled however after Pickett took a sack that lost 11 yards, leaving Wright with a 39-yard field goal instead of 28, which still should've been an easily made kick.
When Wright missed the 48-yard field goal, the Steelers' defense forced a turnover on downs after they stuffed Andy Dalton on a QB sneak. Unfortunately, the offense managed to gain a grand total of four yards resulting in a three-and-out. Wright isn't known for having a huge leg but is a solid 75% over 50 yards in his career, but making long field goals at Acrisure Stadium is a little more difficult than most stadiums.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - JANUARY 03: Kicker Matthew Wright #16 of the Pittsburgh Steelers kicks off during the first half against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on January 03, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Steelers 24-22. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
It is very clear that the Steelers' offense is improved coming out of the bye week, and seeing an uptick in splash plays on both sides of the ball was something special. However, the offense clearly has more room to grow and improvements to make, but it is a start.
What did you think about the Steelers' ability to produce splash plays this past week against the Saints? Do you think they will continue this trend throughout the rest of the season? Let us know in the comment section below!
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