Cheat Sheet: Steelers vs. Saints

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

• TV coverage: Broadcast nationally on FOX (WPGH-TV locally in Pittsburgh).
• Steelers Radio Network - Game coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. ET; Pregame programming begins at 9:00 a.m.; Postgame coverage starts immediately following the game.
• Don't miss a minute of the action... check out all of the ways that you can watch, listen and follow along on gameday. Click here >>>

INJURY UPDATE

The Steelers are back at home as they face the Saints at Acrisure Stadium.
Check out the most updated Injury Report: Click here >>>

SERIES HISTORY

These two teams have only met 16 times, with New Orleans winning nine of them. They have never met in the post season. This series began in 1967, and they squared off four times in the 1960s. The most recent matchup was a 31-28 Saints win in New Orleans in 2018. The Saints are currently on a three-game winning streak against Pittsburgh and have won four of the last five. But between 1974 and 1993, the Steelers five of those seven meetings. New Orleans is the only team in the NFL that Mike Tomlin has yet to defeat as the Steelers head coach.

MATCHUP OVERVIEW

• New Orleans' offense averages 5.9 yards per play. Only five offenses are better. The Steelers offense averages 4.7 yards per play. Pittsburgh's defense surrenders 5.9 yards per game. New Orleans gives up 5.3 yards per play which is tied for 10th best.
• New Orleans' minus-10 turnover differential is the worst in the NFL. Pittsburgh is minus-4 in this crucial metric. The Raiders are the only team that has taken the ball away less often than New Orleans, and the Giants are the only defense with fewer interceptions. No team has given the ball away more than New Orleans. The Saints have also lost the league's most fumbles.
• New Orleans has lost three more games than they have won but have only been outscored by 15 points through nine games.
• The Saints are averaging 55 more yards per game than their opponents
• Of the three prominent wide receivers in this game, Chris Olave is averaging a whopping 2.38 yards per route run. Deontae Johnson comes in at 1.16 and George Pickens sits at 1.14.
• In terms of time of possession, the Saints are exactly league average, holding the ball for 30 minutes per game. New Orleans still sits at 30 minutes per game despite possessing the football for just 22:13 last week. Pittsburgh is 21st at 29:33.
• Over the past five seasons, the Saints are 27-9 on the road. Only Kansas City has been better.
• The Saints are also 5-1 in their last six games against teams coming off their bye week. However, Pittsburgh has won five straight when coming off their bye and are 11-4 under Mike Tomlin after a bye week.
• Andy Dalton's career record against the Steelers is 3-13.
• New Orleans is scoring just under 10 more points per game with Dalton as their starting quarterback this year as opposed to Jameis Winston.
• Starting with the Saints, Pittsburgh's remaining schedule has won 43.7 percent of their games. Only five teams face an upcoming schedule with a lower winning percentage.

WHEN PITTSBURGH HAS THE BALL

• The Steelers produce 1.3 points per drive.
• The Steelers produce exactly six yards per pass attempt.
• The Steelers rank 11th in rushing EPA.
• The Saints defense ranks 16th in EPA per play. They are 22nd in EPA per dropback, but sixth in rushing EPA.
• Diontae Johnson has five or more receptions in every game but one this year. He is 12th amongst NFL wide receivers with a 26.6 percent target share and 20th in target rate per route run (23.8 percent).
• With Pickett as the Steelers quarterbacks, it is Pickens that leads the Steelers in receiving yards (223).
• The Saints are 23rd in catch rate (66.1 percent) and yards allowed per target (8.7 yards) to opposing wide receivers.
• Only Mark Andrews, Kyle Pitts, and Travis Kelce have been targeted at a higher rate amongst tight ends per route run than Pat Freiermuth (24 percent). However, the Saints allow the league-low 4.9 yards per target and 53.6 percent catch rate to opposing tight ends.
• New Orleans allowed 188 rushing yards to the Ravens on Monday night.
• Only three offenses begin their drives with worse starting average field position than Pittsburgh and only two defenses start their drives with worse starting field position than the Saints.
• The Saints bring five or more pass-rushers just 14 percent of dropbacks. That is tied with the Bears for lowest percentage in the league. Their 22 sacks are right in the middle of the NFL.
• In terms of snap counts, linebacker Demario Davis and safety Tyrann Mathieu have missed just one snap between the two of them, with Davis never leaving the field. Linebacker Pete Warner is third in participation, playing 487 plays and defensive lineman Cameron Jordan has been on the field for 429 snaps. No one else on this defense is over 381 of a possible 576 snaps. Five different cornerbacks have played at least 203 plays for New Orleans this year and four safeties have played at least 162 snaps or more.

WHEN NEW ORLEANS HAS THE BALL

• Andy Dalton currently ranks 14th in EPA per dropback.
• New Orleans' offense is 16th in offensive EPA. The Saints are also right in the middle of the league in EPA per dropback. They are 12th in rushing EPA.
• Tom Brady is the only starting quarterback in the league utilizing play-action a lower percentage of his dropbacks than Andy Dalton, who uses it just 15.8 percent of the time.
• The Saints produce 7.5 yards per pass attempt. Just eight offenses are better.
• Olave got a 32.1 percent target share last week. He currently leads all rookie receivers with 43 receptions and 618 receiving yards. He has at least four catches and 50 receiving yards in seven straight games. Olave averages 5.7 receptions and 82.4 yards per game since Week 2.
• Alvin Kamara touched the ball just 12 times in the Saints loss to Baltimore. That was his lowest touch count since Week 1, a game he exited due to a rib injury. In the previous four weeks, Kamara averaged just under 25 touches per game. Kamara managed just 30 yards on the ground last week on his nine carries. He still saw 88 percent of the snaps against the Ravens, however.
• Taysom Hill has only carried the ball 40 times this year, but he is the Saints' second-leading rusher with 343 yards on the ground, averaging 8.6 yards per carry. Hill has thrown a pass in five straight games.
• Pittsburgh's opponents, on average, run 66.9 plays per game. Only one defense faces more plays per game.
• Just five offenses start with worse average starting field position than the Saints.
• Alex Highsmith and Cameron Heyward have combined for 9.5 sacks. That is 63 percent of Pittsburgh's sack production this year.
• Pittsburgh's defense is on pace for 30 sacks this year.
• T.J. Watt has 66 sacks over his last 63 games. Watt has only been on the field for four of the 33 quarters of football the Steelers have played this year.
• Of a possible 594 offensive snaps, the Saints only have four players, Cesar Ruiz, James Hurst, Ryan Ramczyk, and Erik McCoy who have logged more than 412 snaps played. But those four offensive linemen have missed a total of just 35 offensive plays, although McCoy left last week's game with an injury.
• Of all the Saints skill position players, tight end Juwan Johnson is the only player that has been on the field for more than 359 snaps. Seven wide receivers have played 81 or more snaps and nine have played 24 snaps or more.
• The Steelers defense has played 557 snaps in 2022. Three players, Myles Jack, Alex Highsmith and Minkah Fitzpatrick, lead the team in snaps played. These three are all between 482 and 488 snaps played.
• The Steelers cornerback snap counts thus far are as follows: Cameron Sutton (424), Arthur Maulet (303), Levi Wallace (287), Ahkello Witherspoon (248), James Pierre (150), Josh Jackson (85) and Quincy Wilson was on the field for one play this year on defense.
• Of Pittsburgh's off-ball linebackers, Robert Spillane has the most snaps (35) rushing the quarterback, although he has been on the field for 240 snaps compared to 488 snaps by Jack and 366 snaps from Devin Bush. Jack has rushed the passer 32 times and Bush has blitzed on 17 occasions.
• Pittsburgh's defense allows a touchdown on 48.1 percent of its red zone opportunities. That is sixth best in the league.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• The Saints have missed five field goals this season. Their collective opponents have missed just one. 
• Pittsburgh has three players that have been on the field for every snap of kickoff coverage, kickoff return, punt coverage and punt return. Those three are Miles Killebrew, Benny Snell and Derek Watt. But they also have eight players that have logged at least 100 special teams snaps overall.

THE ADVANCED SCOUT PODCAST

Check out Matt's podcast preview on the Saints: Listen Here >>>

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

November 30th, 2014: Saints 35, Steelers 32, Heinz Field

This was the Saints' most recent trip to Pittsburgh in a battle of future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers dominated time of possession and Roethlisberger lit up New Orleans defense with 435 yards through the air on 58 pass attempts. The Steelers racked up 36 first downs in this game. But while Brees couldn't keep up with Roethlisberger from a passing yardage standpoint, he did throw five touchdowns giving the Saints a big early lead. Antonio Brown caught two late touchdown passes - one from Lance Moore - as the Steelers roared back, but it wasn't quite enough to match the Saints 35-point production.

FACTS FROM NFL RESEARCH

• The Steelers have won their last 5 games coming off a bye (since 2017) - Only the Bills and Titans are also undefeated since 2017 - PIT is 11-4 in games after a bye under Mike Tomlin (since 2007) - PIT: 5-1 at home after a bye under Tomlin (loss was to NO Wk 13, 2014)
• Diontae Johnson leads the Steelers in rec (43) & rec yards (372) in 2022
• Najee Harris leads PIT in rec TD (2)

KEY MATCHUPS

• Saints RB Alvin Kamara vs. Steelers LBs Myles Jack and Devin Bush - Kamara has fueled the Saints offense this year. He has had a remarkable career as both a runner and receiver. Few players in recent memory have Kamara's contact balance. He has a great burst and stop/start quickness to go along with excellent field vision. As a receiver, he is an abrupt and sudden route runner and excels after the catch. It will be a team effort to contain Kamara, but much of that responsibility will fall on Jack and Bush, who has done a nice job in man coverage against running backs.  
• Steelers RB Najee Harris vs. Saints LB Demario Davis - Davis doesn't get the national recognition he deserves, but this is one of the NFL's best linebackers. Coming off the bye week, Harris needs to get back to his rookie form as a ball carrier as well as in the passing game. Speaking of the passing game, Davis is an excellent violent blitzer, something Harris will often have to deal with in pass protection. Davis and Werner have really solidified the Saints' defense against both the run and pass. Both are having great years, but Werner left last week's game with an ankle injury and could be unavailable for this game. Davis didn't miss a single snap last week.