Stats Of The Weird: Steelers Vs Giants

Another win on Monday evening. Another dose of weird. I hope you're hungry.

– As the ESPN broadcast noted multiple times, the Pittsburgh Steelers have won 22 straight home games on Monday Night Football. Their last such loss came against the New York Giants in 1991. The Giants made their push, but weren't responsible for breaking that streak last night.

The Steelers did suffer a loss to the Washington Football Team on Monday 2020, but that was a COVID-postponed game that began at 5 p.m. So it is not true that “MNF” is a formality.

– Pittsburgh finished Monday night’s game with 426 total yards of offense. It's the third time under OC Arthur Smith that the Steelers have recorded at least 400 yards of offense, and that's been the case in both of QB Russell Wilson's starts.

To put that in perspective, the Steelers didn't reach 400 yards in 44 games under former OC Matt Canada.

They have done this five times in the 15 games since his dismissal. Twice in 2023 under Mike Sullivan/Eddie Faulkner and three times in 2024 under Smith.

– QB Russell Wilson showed another strong performance in the 26:18 win. He was particularly strong after halftime. In his two starts against the New York Jets and New York Giants, he went 16 of 21 (76.2 percent) for 249 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions in the second half. That’s a QB rating of 146.7.

In the first half, he is 20 of 36 (55.6 percent) for 293 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. That’s a QB rating of 91.6.

– RB Najee Harris ran for 114 yards in this game, the first time in his NFL career that he ran for more than 100 yards in three consecutive games. In fact, not only is it the first time he's done that in his NFL career, it's also something he never accomplished at Alabama, never having a college streak that lasted longer than two games in a row .

Harris is the first Steeler to rush for 100 yards in at least three straight games in Weeks 5-9 since RB James Conner in 2018. In the Mike Tomlin era, Harris is the fourth person to achieve this, joining Willie Parker (2007), Le'Veon Bell (2016) and Conner.

– WR Van Jefferson finished the game with four receptions against the Giants, the most he has had with the Steelers this year. It is his most in a game since the 2023 season opener, when he played for the Los Angeles Rams and caught four passes for 24 yards in a win over the Seattle Seahawks.

His 62 yards are his most in a game since Week 17 of the 2022 season, when he rushed for 77 yards in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

– WR Calvin Austin III had the Steelers' first punt return touchdown since Diontae Johnson in 2019.

He now has a 70-yard touchdown catch (72 yards against the Las Vegas Raiders last season) and a 70-yard punt return score in his career. He is now the sixth Steeler in history to record touchdown catches and punt returns of 70 yards. He joins Diontae Johnson, Roy Jefferson, Louis Lipps, Antonio Brown and Ray Mathews.

– Austin is just the sixth Steeler to record a punt return touchdown since 2000. He joins Diontae Johnson, Antonio Brown, Antwaan Randle El, Santonio Holmes and Hank Poteat.

– Austin is just the third Steeler, joining Antonio Brown and Louis Lipps, to score a receiving and punt return touchdown in a primetime game. Incredibly, Brown has done this three times (in 2013 and 2014 against the Bengals and in 2015 against the Colts), meaning three of his four career punt return scores have come under scrutiny.

That also means four of the team's last five PR touchdowns have come in prime time. All three of Brown's were on SNF while Austin's was on MNF.

– Eight different Steelers caught passes in the win over New York.

– TE Darnell Washington was one of them, hauling in a 29-yard reception. It's the longest catch of his NFL career. It's the longest reception since Nov. 12, 2022, when he scored a 30-yard grab against Mississippi State.

– CB Joey Porter Jr. finished the game with eight tackles, the most he has had in an NFL game. That's the most points he's scored in a game since Penn State's season opener in 2022, when he had eight against Purdue. He's only had more than that once since college, a nine-tackle game against Illinois in 2021.

– TJ Watt is up to 103 NFL sacks. That's 36th on the official all-time list. He only needs a 4.5 to reach the top 30, which he will probably do by the end of the season.

– Watt and Alex Highsmith each had two sacks in this game. It is only the second time both have had more than one sack in a game, the first coming in Week 17 of the 2022 season against the Cleveland Browns. Watt had four sacks on the day while Highsmith had a pair.

– CB Beanie Bishop Jr. secured the win over the Giants with another pass. He is the first Steelers rookie since Artie Burns in 2016 to record three interceptions in a single season. They are the only two in this century. Before them it was Weber States favorite Scott Shields in 1999. Before him it was Darren Perry in 1992.

– Since the merger, Bishop is one of two Steelers UDFA rookies to intercept three passes in a season. He joins Tony Dungy, who signed with the Steelers in 1977 and caught three passes as a rookie.

Bishop is only the eighth Steeler to ever accomplish this. That group includes Jack Butler, meaning Bishop will be joined by two Hall of Fame members.

– K Chris Boswell is tied for the lead with 23 field goals made this year. He's on pace to finish the year with 48, which would break the NFL record of 44 set by David Akers of the San Francisco 49ers (not the Philadelphia Eagles) in 2011. Austin Seibert of the Washington Commanders also has 23 and is on the same pace.

– The Steelers have won the turnover battle in six of eight games this season. They are 1-1 in the two games they did not play in (Chargers and Colts).

– Finally, I would like to end this on a negative note. But still remarkable. New York Giants rookie RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. rushed for 145 yards before exiting with an injury. It's the second-most rush yards by a rookie against the Steelers in franchise history, trailing only Leonard Fournette's 181 in 2017 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who capped his day with a late 90-yard touchdown run.

Tracy passes newcomers like Curtis Martin (120), John Henry Johnson (124 – with the 49ers before becoming a Steeler), Parker Hall (131) and Boyce Green (137).