For a team that was desperately seeking some type of magical turnaround, there was nothing perplexingly mystical about the way the Steelers managed to start the second half of the season the way they started the first — with a victory.
They did it by posting their highest rushing total in six years, came up with more chunk plays than at any point this season and watched their defense send the Saints marching back to New Orleans with a Bourbon Street-style headache.
Oh, it wasn’t pretty. The Steelers’ 20-10 victory on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium wasn’t anything to alter the NFL’s power structure. After all, it was just their second win in the past eight games and improved their record to 3-6.
But it ended a two-game losing streak and wiped away some of the distaste the Steelers had to live with after being blown out in Philadelphia.
“We had a long time to think about our last loss, especially with the bye week,” defensive end Cam Heyward said. “That sick taste after that last loss and having to deal with it the past two weeks, you’re raring to go and ready to get it out of there.”
And they did with the best complementary performance of the season. The Steelers rushed for over 200 yards for the first time in six years and held the Saints to 10 first downs and 186 yards offense, including just 43 in the second half.
What’s more, they did what they did in their only other victories this season: They did not commit a turnover.
“It was a lot of fun in the locker room,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “It was good to get the job done.”
And they did it in uncharacteristic fashion.
After being just one of two teams without a run of at least 20 yards through eight games, the Steelers had four against the Saints — topped by a 36-yard run by Najee Harris, the longest of the season, to set up a field goal. Harris was examined for a possible concussion after getting hit in the jaw on a tackle by cornerback Paulson Abedo on the play, but it was the Steelers’ running game that ended up knocking the daylights out of the Saints’ run defense.
They rushed for 217 yards on 43 carries, the first time they topped 200 yards since they had 240 yards on Dec. 11, 2016 in Buffalo.
“It was good, but we’ve got like seven or eight games left, so I’ve got to just keep building off it,” said Harris, who finished with 99 yards on 20 carries. “I go home and enjoy the win for 24 hours, and then I’m going to come back Monday and find ways to do better.”
But it wasn’t just chunk plays in the run game. The Steelers also had two pass plays of at least 20 yards — a 36-yarder to Diontae Johnson to set up a field goal and a 26-yard catch-and-run by running back Jaylen Warren to set up the final touchdown.
“That’s stuff that we worked on and saw what they were giving us,” said quarterback Kenny Pickett, who passed for 199 yards and ran for 51 more. “We have talent all over the place, and it’s my job to distribute the ball to those guys. It was a step in the right direction. It was a good start.”
The defense held the Saints to 29 yards rushing on 15 carries, their lowest total in 12 years. And the secondary did something it failed to do in their previous two defeats in Miami and Philadelphia: come up with interceptions when they got their hands on the ball.
The interceptions were provided by cornerback Levi Wallace and safety Damontae Kazee, who was subbing for injured Minkah Fitzpatrick in his regular season debut with the Steelers. His interception off the hands of Saints receiver Jarvis Landry set up the final touchdown.
It didn’t even matter that new kicker Matthew Wright missed two field goal attempts and was fortunate to hit a 33-yarder that was tipped at the line of scrimmage.
“We’ve seen Kazee itching to get back, wanting to get back,” said outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who played his first game since the season opener after eight weeks on injured reserve. “The amount of preparation he put this week, he was one of the big guys about wanting splash, wanting to make plays, and he went out and did it.”
Pickett, who said he wanted to focus on protecting the ball better, did not throw an interception for the first time this season and scored on a 1-yard sneak, his third rushing touchdown this season. Pickett was sacked six times, but when he wasn’t running out of the pocket, he was throwing the ball out of bounds to avoid a turnover.
“As a young quarterback in competitive circumstances, that's a difficult thing to do,” Tomlin said. “We don't discount his ability to do that. Take care of the ball, give yourself a chance to win, and make yourself a tough group to beat. So it started there for us.”
The result was Pickett’s first NFL victory in a game in which he started and finished. He’ll get a chance to make it two in a row next Sunday at home against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“It feels awesome,” Pickett said. “You put your whole life into this. It’s my first one all the way through. It feels great to get this one and be up here after a win.”
