Matt's Stats: Week 10 vs. Chargers

SERIES HISTORY

Pittsburgh holds a 25-11 series lead. This series began in 1971, and the Steelers won the first six matchups. The Chargers then won the next three. After a long stretch in which the Chargers won just five of 21 games between 1983 and 2009, these two teams have gone back and forth over the past seven meetings with the Steelers winning the most recent matchup in 2024. Mike Tomlin is 6-3 against the Chargers.

MATCHUP OVERVIEW

• Pittsburgh is 2-1 on the road, 3-1 away from Acrisure Stadium, and 4-1 within the conference. The Chargers are 5-1 within the AFC and 3-2 at home.
• Los Angeles has a +22-point differential compared to +7 for the Steelers.
• After being +5 last week, the Steelers are now +9 in turnover differential. Only the Bears are better and only Chicago has more takeaways than Pittsburgh's 16. The Steelers lead the league with eight fumble recoveries, while Los Angeles has just one. The Steelers have only lost two fumbles. Los Angeles is at -4 in turnover differential, 21^st.
• Pittsburgh is 4-0 in games this season in which they have won the turnover battle.
• The Steelers have a +50 points off turnovers differential over their opponents, best in the league. The Chargers are at -36, 31^st in the league.
• The Chargers held the ball for 34:20 last week and average 33:09 per game. Over the last three weeks, Los Angeles is at 35:57, most in the league. For the season, the Steelers sit at 27:35.
• Pittsburgh has a +12-sack differential. The Chargers are at -3.
• The Chargers rush six or more defenders 2.8% of the time, lowest in the league. Pittsburgh is at 16.9%, second highest behind Kansas City.
• The Chargers have produced 47 more first downs, 661 more passing yards, 10 more passing touchdowns, 91 more plays run, and 819 more total yards than their opponents.
• Los Angeles averages 87.8 more yards per game than their opponent, best in the league. The Steelers average 95.6 less yards per game than their opponent.
• The Chargers have converted 13.4% more third downs than their opponents, the league's highest differential.
• Pittsburgh has led for 44.5% of their offensive snaps, seventh in the league.
• A total of 81.8% of Los Angeles' touchdowns have come via passing, the highest percentage in the league. In addition, 77.3% of Pittsburgh's touchdowns have come via passing, seventh highest.
• The Steelers have gone for it on fourth down six times this season. Their collective opponents have gone for it on 23 occasions.
• The Steelers currently have a 5-3 record. Since 1990, teams that start the season 6-3 go to the playoffs 73.3% of the time while teams that start 5-4 go at a 47.1% clip.
• With his next game with multiple touchdown passes, Aaron Rodgers will break a tie with Peyton Manning for the third most such games in NFL history. Rodgers and Manning currently have 165 such games.
• Los Angeles gave up two non-offensive touchdowns in the first quarter against the Titans. But those were the only two touchdowns Tennessee scored.
• With one more sack with the Chargers, Khalil Mack joins Kevin Greene as the only players since 1982 when sacks were first recorded to have notched 35+ sacks with three different teams.

WHEN PITTSBURGH HAS THE BALL

• The Steelers average 5.2 yards per play. Los Angeles gives up 5.2 yards per play.
• Pittsburgh has scored 20+ points in each of their last six games.
• Only six offenses produce more points per drive (2.54) than the Steelers.
• Pittsburgh turns a set of downs into a new set of downs or a touchdown at a 70% clip. League average is 71%. The Chargers defense is at 68%. Only three are better.
• The Steelers explosive play rate of 4.9% is higher than only four offenses.
• The Steelers offense employs 11 Personnel just 33.5% of their snaps, lowest in the league. They use 12 Personnel at a 34.6% (seventh highest), 13 Personnel 16% (highest in the league), and have utilized an extra offensive lineman on 11.9% of their offensive plays. Only the Ravens (57%) have a higher multi tight end rate than Pittsburgh (56.4%).
• The Chargers are in base defense just 14.8% of the time. Only three defenses use base defense less. They use their dime package at a 19.8% rate. Only the Rams and Cardinals use dime more.
• Amongst quarterbacks with 100+ dropbacks, Aaron Rodgers 5.9 yards average depth of target is the lowest. A total of 64.7% of Rodgers passing yards this season have come after the catch. Not only is that the highest percentage, but Geno Smith comes in next at just 58.7%. Rodgers 2.43 seconds average time to throw is tied with Patrick Mahomes and only higher than Tua Tagovailoa. A total of 32.5% of Rodgers' pass attempts have come at or behind the line of scrimmage. Only Kyler Murray (35.4%) has a higher rate. Only 23% of Rodgers' pass attempts have come 10+ yards downfield, the lowest rate in the league. League average is 32.4%.
• The Chargers allow a 39.5% rate on throws 10+ yards downfield, second best in the league.
• The Chargers gave up just 118 yards through the air last week. Their 6.4 yards allowed per pass attempt for the season is third best. The Chargers also allow a 2.9% touchdown rate, second best.
• Rodgers has a 7% touchdown rate, fifth best.
• Rodgers' 17 touchdown passes are already the most by a Steelers quarterback in a season since Ben Roethlisberger in 2021.
• Nine different players have a receiving touchdown for the Steelers, most in the league.
• The Steelers had zero completions over 20 yards last week and only attempted three passes over 10 yards.
• Metcalf is 40^th amongst all wide recievers in targets per game (6.0). Despite already having his bye week, Metcalf is third amongst all wide receivers in yards after the catch (286).
• In two wide receiver sets against Indianapolis, Calvin Austin III played just 33.3% of the snaps. In total, Austin played 35 snaps compared to 29 by Roman Wilson and 22 from Ben Skowronek. Austin has six targets in each of his past two games.
• The Chargers allow 6.9 yards per target (10^th), but they have allowed an 8.5% touchdown rate (26^th) to tight ends.
• Last week, Jaylen Warren ran a route on just 38.5% of dropbacks, his lowest rate since Week 1. Warren does have 15 or more touches in every game played this season.
• Running backs have 23.5% of the catches vs. Los Angeles, the fourth highest rate in the league.
• The Chargers average 2.9 sacks per game, tied for ninth best in the league.
• Odafe Oweh had two sacks last week. He now has four sacks since being traded to Los Angeles before Week 6-that is fifth most in the league during that time.
• Only the Bengals (78.8) and Titans (81.2) are producing fewer rushing yards per game than Pittsburgh (87.3). As a team, the Steelers average 3.8 yards per rush attempt, ahead of only the 49ers (3.5) and Seahawks (3.7). Pittsburgh's 2.7% explosive run rate is last in the league.
• Los Angeles allows 4.9 yards per carry, better than only five defenses. They also allow an 8.0% explosive run rate, better than only three defenses. The running back position is averaging 5.0 yards per carry against the Chargers, 27^th in the league.
• Pittsburgh averaged 1.7 yards per carry last week.
• Pittsburgh had just 38 rushing yards in Week 9, the fifth fewest of any team this season and the fewest yards on any team in a win in 2025.
• Warren leads the Steelers with 404 rushing yards followed by Kenneth Gainwell with 220. No one else has more than 40.
• Warren scored his first rushing touchdowns of the season last week. Over his last five games, Warren had gotten seven of the eight carries inside the 10-yard line and a 73% backfield share.
• Gainwell has played 37% of the Steelers offensive snaps this year, including 29% on early downs and 69% on third downs.
• Kaleb Johnson played five offensive snaps last week, his first action since Week 6.
• Los Angeles' defense was only on the field for 44 plays in Week 9.
• The Steelers reach the red zone on 24% of their drives, fifth lowest. But they are seventh best in red zone scoring. The Chargers' defense is fourth best in the red zone.
• Tennessee converted just one of nine third down attempts last week vs. the Chargers.
• The Steelers have started the same five offensive linemen in every game this season.

WHEN LOS ANGELES HAS THE BALL

• The Chargers average 5.7 yards per play. Pittsburgh allows 5.6 for the year, but 6.3 per play over their past three games.
• Only six offenses are throwing the ball at a higher percentage than Los Angeles (60.6%). Pittsburgh's opponents throw the ball at a 63.5% clip. Only two defenses are facing a higher percentage of pass plays.
• Only Kansas City (7.54) produces more plays per drive than the Chargers (7.16).
• Only the Cowboys (40.2) allows more yards per drive than Pittsburgh (38.5) and only Indianapolis (7.0) allows more plays per drive than the Steelers (6.9).
• Los Angeles turns a set of downs into a new set of downs or a touchdown at a 76% rate. Only four offenses are better. The Steelers defense sits at 74%, ahead of only six defenses.
• In drives in which Pittsburgh did not create a turnover, they give up 2.76 points per drive, 25^th in the league.
• Amongst quarterbacks with 100+ dropbacks, only Matthew Stafford and Daniel Jones are producing more passing yards per game than Justin Herbert (265.6).
• Herbert has 184 dropbacks with Joe Alt on the field and averages 8.3 yards per attempt, 9.1 air yards per attempt, 7.1% touchdown rate, and a 1.9% interception rate. Herbert has 193 dropbacks without Alt on the field and averages 6.5 yards per attempt, 6.9 air yards per attempt, 4.1% touchdown rate, and a 2.9% interception rate.
• The Chargers offense employs 11 Personnel at a 55.3% rate. Ten teams use 11 Personnel less. They use 21 Personnel 10.8% of the time (fourth highest) and 22 Personnel 11% (second highest). They also have used 10 Personnel on 7.1% of their snaps, highest in the league. Over the past two weeks, Los Angeles has trended toward heavier personnel, using 38.6% and 27.7% of 22 Personnel and 11.4% and 15.4% of 21 Personnel the past two weeks. Only two offenses employ multi-running backs at a higher rate than the Chargers (28.6%).
• Over the first seven weeks of the season, Los Angeles used three wide receivers on 58% of their snaps. Over the last two games, that has dipped to 47%.
• Los Angeles played with just one wide receiver on the field for 30 snaps in Week 8 with Tre Harris as that single receiver on 27 of those 30 plays. In Week 9, they used a single receiver set for 18 plays with Harris on the field for 14 such plays. Over the first four weeks, Harris had a route participation of 19%. Since Week 5, that expanded to 35% and that excludes Week 6 when he hit 86% with Quintin Johnston out.
• Over Johnston's first four games, his lowest target share was 21.7%. Over his most recent four games, his target share has been 12.5%, 11.1%, 0%, and 17.9% last week. He hasn't had more than six targets in a game since Week 4. Johnston has been on the field for 88% of the dropbacks in his games played this season though.
• Over the past two games, Keenan Allen has only had route share of 50% and 54%.
• Ladd McConkey has a target share of 20% or more in five straight games.
• Allen leads the wide recievers in yards per route run (1.92) followed by McConkey (1.53) then Johnston (1.52).
• Last week, the Steelers allowed 22 receptions for 294 yards to Indianapolis wide receivers..
• Oronde Gadsden has four straight games with 65+ receiving yards. He leads all tight ends in receiving yards per game with 64.7 and is second amongst tight ends in receiving yards (453). His route share in each of those games is 77%, 79%, 91%, and 85%. He has been the Chargers overall leader in route share for two straight games now and averages 94.3 receiving yards per game (seventh amongst all wide receivers and tight ends) over the past two weeks.
• Will Dissly was inactive last week due to illness.
• Pittsburgh allows 8.4 yards per target (27^th) and an 8.7% touchdown rate (27^th) to tight ends.
• The Chargers have four pass catchers with between 453 and 524 receiving yards. They are the only team in the league with four pass catchers with 400+ receiving yards.
• Los Angeles has three ball carriers with over 305 rushing yards, but no one over 314 for the season.
• As a team, the Chargers average 4.8 yards per rush attempt, eighth best. Their 6.9% explosive run rate is third best.
• Pittsburgh's defense gives up a 6.4% explosive run rate, better than only six defenses.
• Herbert was sacked six times in Week 9 vs. Tennessee. Prior to that game, the Titans had 16 sacks in eight games. For the season, Herbert has been sacked 28 times, third most in the league. He has been hit 80 times, most in the league.
• Twelve different Steelers defenders have recorded a sack this season. Pittsburgh averages 3.4 sacks per game. Only Denver and Detroit are better. The Steelers 27 sacks are third most in the league and their 66 quarterback hits are second despite Pittsburgh already having their bye week.
• The Steelers are the third heaviest blitzing defense in the NFL for the season, but in Week 9 they blitzed just 24% of dropbacks, their lowest percentage of the year. That follows their game against Green Bay in which they blitzed at a 46% rate, their highest of the season.
• Herbert has been blitzed on 32.9% of his dropbacks, fifth highest amongst all quarterbacks. He has a 68.6% completion percentage against the blitz, sixth best.
• The Chargers finished the game last week with 131 rushing yards, but Herbert led the way with 57. In that game, Jaret Patterson played 11 of the 17 possible fourth quarter snaps. Kimani Vidal finished last week's game with a 57% running back rush share, his lowest since Hampton's injury. Vidal also had his lowest target share (3.6%). Vidal has totaled 138, 35, 127, and 30 yards over the past four weeks.
• Pittsburgh allows .88 yards before contact on running backs runs, fourth best.
• Herbert leads all quarterbacks with 305 rushing yards. He is rushing for a career-high 33.9 yards per game. Herbert has at least 30 rushing yards in six games this season, with only two below 24 yards on the ground.
• Pittsburgh had a season high six takeaways against the Colts. That is the most by any team this season. That is the Steelers second game with five or more takeaways this season. The rest of the NFL has two combined games with five or more takeaways.
• Herbert has already thrown eight interceptions this year, his most in a season since 2022.
• The Chargers reach the red zone on 36% of their drives, sixth highest. But they are sixth worst in red zone scoring. The Steelers defense is seventh best in the red zone.
• Los Angeles have converted 49.2% of their third downs, best in the NFL.
• Last week Jalen Ramsey played safety on 83.6% of his snaps, the first time in his career he has played safety more than 30% of his snaps in a single game. Ramsey played just six snaps of slot cornerback against the Colts after playing 217 going into that game.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Chris Boswell is making 88.9% of his field goal attempts. He only has two misses this season.
• Cameron Dicker is making 95.2% of his field goal attempts. He only has one miss this year.
• Corliss Waitman averages 47.9 yards per punt with a 42.1 net average.
• JK Scott averages 50.4 yards punt with a 40.5 net average.
• The Chargers gave up a 67-yard punt return for touchdown last week to Chimere Dike.

KEY MATCHUPS

Chargers Offensive Tackles vs. Steelers Outside Linebackers - Alt was carted off the field last week with an ankle injury and right tackle, Bobby Hart, went down with a groin injury in that same game. Rashawn Slater is already on injured reserve and Alt has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. The Chargers backup offensive tackles will need plenty of help vs. TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig.

Steelers Offensive Tackles vs. Chargers Outside Linebackers - The Chargers also have a formidable trio of edge defenders in Khalil Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu, and Odafe Oweh. The Steelers offensive tackles as well as possibly help from tight ends and running backs will have to contend with an excellent rotation off the edge.