2022 Steelers Season Recall: Pittsburgh’s fortunes begin turnaround with win over Saints
Steel City Underground presents our 2022 Steelers Recall: a look back at Pittsburgh Steelers games and storylines from last season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers had their bye week during Week 9 of the 2022 NFL regular season and the team was relatively open about their level of displeasure at early season results, insisting they’d spent the week to scout themselves, be accountable, and make necessary adjustments in order to play better.
At the same time, the team was in a sort of transition. Chase Claypool was sent to the Chicago Bears right before the Week 9 trade deadline. Several players returned from injuries, and the hope was that Pittsburgh could rebound from a brutal first half schedule that had them sitting near the bottom of the AFC with a 2-6 record.
The promised adjustments on offense seemed cliché from offensive coordinator Matt Canada, but the Steelers delivered on those promises on the ground and in the air. Pittsburgh absolutely crushed it, running the ball 43 times for 217 yards. RB Najee Harris was one yard shy of 100 in the game with 99 yards on 20 carries (5.0 average) while Jaylen Warren added another 37 yards on the ground.
QB Kenny Pickett also got in on the action with 51 yards rushing (6.4 average) and George Pickens scored combined with his quarterback, as both would score rushing touchdowns.
The run game was so good, it broke the Internet when it comes to statistics too:
The @steelers had four players (Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, George Pickens and Kenny Pickett) register 20+ yard runs.
The last time an @NFL team had four players register 20+ yard runs in a game:
Dec. 24, 2011 – Carolina Panthers#NOvsPIT#HereWeGo#BertschyBits
— Michael Bertsch (@SteelersPRMike) November 14, 2022
The Steelers hadn’t registered a 20-plus-yard run all season… Pittsburgh also ran for a season-best 60 first-quarter yards, which are the most for the Steelers in any first quarter since Week 5 of 2018 (68, versus Atlanta).
It was a breakout game for the undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State, Jaylen Warren, who played a season-high 43% of the offensive snaps, as well as a season-high with nine carries. However, his three receptions for 40 yards (also a season-high) stood out, giving Warren 77 yards from scrimmage.
Kenny Pickett came out fast and he continued to keep the offense motivated despite his rookie QB status. While he didn’t have a flawless day – he took six sacks, in part due to a breakdown in offensive line play – Pickett handled the hits, shook off a limp and was fired up as the offense performed at a higher level.
Pickett completed 18-of-30 passes to a stingy Saints defense that has had a chip on its own shoulders. Throwing for 199 yards, Pickens spread the ball around to nine different targets. He also took advantage of the Saints’ coverage to scramble for 51 yards on right carries and a rushing touchdown.
With 1:26 left in the third quarter, Kenny Pickett was finally able to connect on a designed deep shot on first down. The Steelers had the plays on the board all afternoon, however, for one reason or another Pickett wasn’t able to let one loose until this point in the game, where he found WR Diontae Johnson for a 36-yard gain.
The play is the longest pass play for the Steelers offense this season, which took ten weeks to materialize.
Oddly enough, it only tied for the longest play of the game with Najee Harris’ 36-yard run in the first quarter.
Although George Pickens didn’t lead in receptions during this game, he did grab a touchdown from a designed play that allowed him to run the ball through the middle of a crowd for a rushing touchdown. He caught 3-of-4 passes intended for him for 32 yards.
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What were the Steelers missing on defense in the past few weeks beyond injured personnel and determination? Dominance.
The highly-anticipated return of T.J. Watt helped elevate fans’ energy level. The play across the board by Pittsburgh’s defense, however, kept the Saints offense from putting any points on the scoreboard during the entire second half of the game; it’s the second time they’ve shut out an opponent in the last two quarters this season.
“We did that down in Miami, as well. It shows the work we put in during the bye week. You can see guys buying into what the coaches are teaching.” – Levi Wallace
The mix of pressures up front allowed Watt and Alex Highsmith to both earn a quarterback hit apiece. Highsmith would have a pair of sacks and force a fumble in the game, while the defense picked off Dalton twice in the second half.
Cameron Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi played a major part in bottling up Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill, forcing Andy Dalton to feel less than comfortable in the pocket as he tried to turn to the passing game.
The fact that Minkah Fitzpatrick was out of the game due to an appendix issue didn’t seem to deter the Steelers’ corners and safeties, though. Damontae Kazee, who was just activated during the bye week, stepped in with Levi Wallace to add some extra moxy in the defensive backfield, the duo earning one interception individually as they worked in tandem.
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Arguably no other player in the league has as great of an effect on his team than Watt and it showed:
- The Steelers lost six of seven games he missed (the lone victory came in Week 6 of this season, against Tampa Bay).
- The Steelers had a 53-24-2 (.684) record in the 79 games with Watt since he entered the NFL in 2017.
- Pittsburgh had a 1-10 (.091) record in the 11 games without Watt since he entered the NFL in 2017.
- With Watt, Pittsburgh averaged 3.4 sacks, 6.9 QB hits and 5.7 TFLs (as well as 20.1 points allowed).
- Without Watt, Pittsburgh averaged 1.5 sacks, 3.4 QB hits and 3.5 TFLs (as well as 26.3 points allowed).
With Chris Boswell injured and placed on IR, the Steelers signed Wright from the Chiefs practice squad with the intention of rolling with him until their starter gets healthy.
Wright had some success in Kansas City, and previously kicked for the Steelers in 2020. However, Sunday’s game was a mixed bag for the specialist, who made field goal attempts twice from 33 yards out, but missed on 39-yard and 48-yard attempts.
It was a colder day than usual in Pittsburgh, with winds at 14 mph – that causes more chaos than you’d imagine in the “open end” of Acrisure Stadium by the scoreboard, where one of Wright’s kicks miserably sailed wide left. Mike Tomlin didn’t sound happy about it in his postgame press conference:
“We left some points out there in the kicking game today. We’ll get back to work with Matt Wright and company. Operationally, it could have been better in some of those things, but we’re always going to fall short of perfection. It’s good to win, though, in the process.”
Speaking of Tomlin, the long-time Steelers head coach entered Sunday’s game 0-3 lifetime against the New Orleans Saints. The Saints were the only team Tomlin didn’t own a victory over, and with the Steelers win on Sunday, the head coach now holds victories over 31 of the league’s 32 teams. (Of course, the team he hasn’t defeated is the one he’s currently coaching: the Pittsburgh Steelers.)
Tomlin became the 14th head coach in NFL history to accomplish that feat. Four of the 14 head coaches to defeat 31 of the current NFL franchises, Tomlin, Bill Cowher, Marvin Lewis and Sean Payton, only coached with one team.
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Despite being two-point underdogs, the Steelers bested the Saints by a final score of 20-10, improving to 3-6 on the season. Next up? A return bout with the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals.
