The Pittsburgh Steelers were on the road for the second time this season, this time heading to Denver to take on the 0-1 Broncos. Looking to go 2-0 for the first time since 2020, the Steelers scored their first touchdown of the season. With the defense once again leading the way, the Steelers offense complemented well enough to leave Denver with a victory.

So without further ado, here are some of the numbers involved in the Steelers Week 2 win over the Broncos.

+2

The Steelers are putting themselves in a good place when it comes to turnovers. Holding the advantage in turnover margin once again, this time by having two interceptions, the Steelers once again did not turn the ball over. The first interception by Cory Trice took potential points off the board for the Broncos and the Steelers answered with a field goal. The interception by Damontae Kazee ended the game.

49:18

The Steelers were able to pitch a shut out defensively for more than 80% of the game. It wasn’t until 4:18 into the fourth quarter when the Steelers surrendered their first points of the contest.

19 for 202

One of the biggest stories of this game was the number of penalties called throughout the game on both teams. In all, there were 19 accepted penalties between the two teams for a total of 202 yards. The Steelers had 10 penalties for 78 yards where the Broncos had 9 penalties for 124 yards. This does not include the penalties that were declined or offsetting.

62

The Steelers defense held the Broncos to only 62 yards of offense in the first half. The Broncos had 38 rushing yards on 7 attempts and 24 net passing yards on 7 of 11 pass attempts for 39 yards in the air and lost 15 yards on 2 sacks. But what was in the Steelers favor in the first half went against them in the second half as they only had 62 total yards of offense. The Steelers had 46 rushing yards on 18 rushing and only 16 yards through the air on 3 of 8 passing attempts.

3

The Steelers defense only surrendered three first downs to the Broncos in the first half. Two of them came on the ground and only one came on a pass. Of the Broncos four first half drives, their first first down did not happen until the third drive which still stalled with a punt while they had two first downs on their fourth drive which ultimately ending in turning the ball over on downs. But just like the last category, the Steelers returned the favor by only having three first downs in the second half. The Steelers had one first down through the air and two came on penalties.

6 vs. 4

This game saw 10 of the 22 combined drives be of the “three and out“ variety. The Steelers forced the Broncos to punt without a first down on a drive 6 times in the game where the Steelers offense went three and out 4 times.

64

The Steelers defense was once again very stout against the run as they only surrendered 64 yards on the ground in the game. The Broncos ran the ball 19 times for a 3.4 yards per carry average. The Broncos leading rusher for the game was quarterback Bow Nix who rushed for 25 yards on 4 carries.

29:22

Whether it was by design to not turn the ball over, lack of execution, or shooting themselves in the foot with penalties, the Steelers offense did not get going in the second half. On the second play of the half, Justin Fields hit Pat Fairmouth for a 9-yard gain on a 2nd & 7 from their own 33-yard line. This occurred 38 seconds into the half and it was the last time the Steelers had a first down gained in the game that wasn’t by penalty, meaning they went the final 29:22 without non-penalty first down. This caused the Steelers to go 0 for 7 on third down conversions in the second half after going 4 for 6 in the first half.

53.0

After losing punter Cam Johnston for the season due to a knee injury last week, Corliss Waitman came into punt for the Steelers and did an admiral job against his former team. Punting the ball 8 times for 428 yards, Waitman had a 53 3.0 gross punting average and a 43.0 net punting average. There were 3 touchbacks on punts while twice pinning the Broncos inside their own 20-yard line.

1

Although the Steelers struggled mightily on offense in the second half, the defense was able to keep the Broncos out of the end zone and hold them to just two field goals in the fourth quarter to hold on for the victory despite being worn down due to the elevation. Even though some fans might complain about the Steelers lack of scoring points, their defense is getting the job done and the most important thing is they were able to put another tally in the win column.

So there are some numbers to help put the Steelers Week 2 win in perspective. The offense did enough to get the defense the lead while the defense gave a dominating performance keeping their opponent out of the end zone.

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