The Pittsburgh Steelers came out of their first AFC North matchups of the season with a victory which pushed their winning streak to five games as they took down the Baltimore Ravens 18-16. It was the second game the Steelers have won this season without scoring a touchdown.

So without further ado, here are some of the numbers involved in the Steelers Week 11 win over the Ravens.

+2

Part of the reason the Steelers were able to win the game by two points because they won the turnover battle by two. The Steelers had one turnover in the game and three takeaways. And in all honesty, the way these numbers are phrased seems to be quite accurate in this case. The Steelers turnover was their own doing as it was a mistake on their part which led to the Baltimore interception. But as for the Steelers three takeaways, they were the definition of the Steelers taking the ball away with two forced fumbles and an interception where Payton Wilson simply wrestled the ball away from the receiver on the way down.

6/6; 49.3

There were so many good numbers from this game I decided to combine two into one when it came to special teams. It was obvious that Chris Boswell deserves a ton of credit for connecting on all 6 of his field goal attempts with three of them coming from 50 yards or longer. Additionally, the Steelers got quality punting in the game as Corliss Waitman had a 49.3 net punting yard average from a 56.5 gross punting yard average. Both of these numbers outdid the Ravens, who have a knack for winning the field position game due to special teams.

4

This number is about one subject, but it is both good and bad. While the Steelers only had 4 third-down conversions in the game, the Steelers defense only allowed 4 third-down conversions. The Steelers offense was 1 of 9 in the first half for an 11% conversion rate but improved to 3 of 7 for 43% of the second half, the most important of which came in the final minute for the Steelers to get a first down to run out the clock. As for the defense, they held the Ravens without a third down conversion in the first half as the Ravens were 0 for 5, but Baltimore was 4 of 6 in the second half.

2/2 vs. 0/4

Once again, here are some contrasting numbers that show both for good and the bad. The Steelers offense managed to get into the red zone four times against the Baltimore Ravens, but they did not convert any of those trips into touchdowns. Instead, they settled for three field goals and threw an interception. On the other side of the ball, the Steelers defense only allowed Baltimore to get into the red zone twice the entire game. Unfortunately, the Ravens put up a touchdowns on both trips.

65

A new wrinkle to the Steelers–Ravens rivalry was the addition of running back Derrick Henry. Coming into the contest, Henry had never rushed for more than 75 yards in a game against the Steelers and had yet to be a part of a game in which his team was victorious. This trend continued on Sunday as Henry finished the game with 13 carries for 65 yards and one touchdown. Almost half of Henry’s yards came on one play in the second quarter. Other than the one play, Henry was not very efficient in running the ball and in the second half only had five carries for 13 yards which all came in the third quarter.

50.3%

The next four numbers I’m going to present will be outlining how much the Pittsburgh Steelers slowed down the Baltimore Ravens offense. Averaging 31.8 points per game coming into Week 11, the Steelers held the Ravens to only 16 points in the game which was the only time they had scored fewer than 20 this season. This means the Steelers held the Ravens to only 50.3% of the points they scored on average.

67.9%

With the number one rushing offense in the NFL, the Ravens were averaging 182.6 yards per game on the ground coming into their matchup in Pittsburgh. Holding the Ravens to 124 rushing yards, they only had 67.9% of their typical output on the ground.

74.7%

When facing the top offense in the NFL, the goal is not necessarily to completely shut them down but to limit their production. The Steelers did so against the Ravens as they held a team that was averaging 440.2 yards per game to only 329 yards which is 74.7% of their typical production. This was the Ravens lowest offensive yardage in a game this season by more than 50 yards.

66.9%

The Steelers had a complementary game as their offense helped keep the defense off the field as the Steelers had a significant advantage in time of possession. The Steelers held the ball for 12:44 more than the Ravens during this game, getting close to almost an entire quarter longer. With the offense doing its part, the defense definitely stepped up and held the Ravens to only 16 first downs in the entire game. The Ravens were averaging 23.9 first downs coming into the contest, therefore only getting 66.9% of their typical output. It was the first time all season the Ravens were held less than 20 first downs in the game.

1

The Steelers once again did not have their best game of the season on offense. But when playing complementary football, teams can still be victorious. With the defense and special teams coming through in a big way, the Steelers got the most important number which was another tally in the win column. With 8 victories now in 10 games, the Steelers have set themselves up well to where they control their own destiny for the rest of the season.

So there are some numbers to help put the Steelers Week 11 win in perspective. The Steelers now have a quick turnaround to face he Bowns on Thursday night.

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