The Pittsburgh Steelers had their final contest in preparation for the 2024 season by coming up short in Detroit against the Lions in Week 3 of the preseason. With the Steelers hitting the ground running with their top units on the field, there are at least some positives to take away from what ended up being a loss in a meaningless game.

So without further ado, here are some of the numbers involved in the Steelers preseason loss to the Lions.

+1

The Steelers once again came in on the positive end of the turnover margin, but in a different way this week. While last week the Steelers were +1 because they had one take away, this week the Steelers had two takeaways while coughing the ball up once on their own. When it came to points off of turnovers, the Steelers scored a touchdown on one of their takeaways while the Lions also scored seven points after the Steelers turnover.

14-0

Something I noted on the Pittsburgh Standard Time podcast before the Steelers had their first preseason game was it often times is beneficial to look at the score and the stats after the first quarter of a preseason game where the top units that appeared in each game faced off. In this game, the Steelers held a 14–0 advantage at the end of the first quarter, and actually gained this advantage less than nine minutes into the game.

3

After giving up a first down on the Lions first offensive possession, the Steelers ended the drive by notching three sacks on consecutive plays. Nick Herbig was credited with the first sack while Keeanu Benton and DeMarvin Leal split the sack on second down. The third sack was once again Herbig as he forced a fumble that was recovered by Dean Lowry. In all the Steelers had 5 sacks in the game with Julius Welschof getting the other two.

7

When the first quarter came to an end, the Steelers defense had held the Detroit Lions to 7 total offensive yards. The Lions had 14 rushing yards on five carries but had -7 net passing yards completing three passes for 17 yards. It was the Steelers four first-quarter sacks for -24 yards that had the most impact on Lions offensive output.

26

While the Steelers held the Lions to only two first downs in the first quarter, the Lions finished 28 total first downs in the game. This means through the final three quarters of the game, the Lions had 26 first downs with 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter.

5

Not including the drive at the end of the first half that consisted of one kneel down, the Steelers had 5 drives out of 10 that did not have a first down. Four of those drives were three and out and ended in a punt while the other was when the Steelers turned the ball over on a strip sack on the second play of the drive.

30%

The Steelers finished the game going 3 of 10 on third downs for a 30% conversion rate. Although the Steelers were 2 of 3 on third downs in the first quarter with the only failed conversion being a premature snap to Justin Fields, the Steelers went only 1 for 7 over the final three quarters of the game.

187

After only having 14 rushing yards on five attempts in the first quarter, the Lions finished with 187 rushing yards on 41 attempts for the game. Almost exactly half of the rushing yards were by quarterback Hendon Hooker who scrambled for 93 yards on 10 carries.

38

If looking for something of note on special teams, the Steelers had one kickoff return in this game under the new rules which was significant. John Rhys Plumlee had a 38-yard kickoff return which set the Steelers up at the 44-yard line. Unfortunately, three plays later the Steelers were forced to punt after lining up to attempt to convert a fourth and one but jumped offsides.

3

Following the game, Coach Tomlin said specifically about three players who were injured in the contest. Cory Trice left with a groin injury, Julius Welschof is dealing with a knee injury, and Ryan Watts had a scary situation at the end of the game which the Steelers believe to be just a stinger. While typically it’s whether the Steelers won or lost the game that is the most important number to finish on, noting what players were injured is much more important in the preseason.

So there are some numbers to help put the Steelers Week 3 preseason loss in perspective. The end result was not a victory, but a lot of positives can be taken away from the performance.

So what numbers from Saturday’s preseason game stand out to you? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.