The New Orleans Saints (2-4) are coming off of a much-needed win against the New York Giants and are now set to play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) in Paris during the first-ever NFL game played in France.
New Orleans saw a positive tone shift after their Week 6 win over the Giants, but still have a lot of work to do in order to continue to improve. The club’s 24-point lead against New York was quickly reduced to just seven points with the Giants having a chance to tie at the end.
The Saints learned a valuable lesson on their need to figure out how to finish games in their win as they look to secure back-to-back victories for the first time this season against a strong Pittsburgh club.
Here is a look at how both teams match up across a number of key statistical categories.
Scoring Offense vs. Scoring Defense (Points Per Game)
Saints Offense – No.10 (25.3) | Steelers Defense – No. 12 (21.3)
Steelers Offense – No. 17 (22.8) | Saints Defense – T-No. 31 (29.7)
New Orleans will be facing another very talented defense on Sunday. After taking on the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings earlier in the season, this will be another test for quarterback Tyler Shough and Head Coach Kellen Moore.
With 16 sacks on the season and allowing a completion percentage of just 61.7%, the Steelers rank firmly within the Top-10 in both metrics. Their biggest vulnerability may be their run defense, but that’s while still forcing under 100 rushing yards per game so far this year.
Point Differential
Saints – minus-26 (No. 26) | Steelers – plus-9 (No. 13)
Although the team’s records are reversed, the Steelers have not been winning games the way the Saints have lost them. New Orleans has two losses with a double-digit deficit while the Steelers have only one such win, a 12-point victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Pittsburgh is 3-1 in close games while the Saints are 2-2. Both teams have mostly participated in close matchups, it’s reasonable to assume that this game across the pond may be similar.
Passing Offense vs. Passing Defense (Yards Per Game)
Saints Offense – No. 17 (224.2) | Steelers Defense – No. 7 (204.7)
Steelers Offense – No. 18 (221.3) | Saints Defense – No. 25 (239.7)
This is the third consecutive week in which the Saints have faced a passing defense while it is ranked No. 7 in the NFL. They found a lot of success through the air, even though the passing yards might say others, last week against the Giants. Shough threw a trio of touchdowns with no interceptions. Their success this weekend will come down to Shough and his wide receivers Chris Olave and Devaughn Vele as the Steelers have done well in limiting production from opposing tight ends.
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has seen everything the league has to offer, so he’s likely to find success against the Saints’ defense by virtue of that alone, however, the game will offer an opportunity to see if the Saints have improved in one specific area: finishing games.
The Saints narrowly escaped a furious comeback by the Giants last week as their 24-point fourth-quarter lead turned into only a seven-point victory. On the other hand, the Steelers erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to secure their win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Any lead the Saints may gain in this one won’t be safe against Rodgers and his offense.
Rushing Offense vs. Rushing Defense (Yards Per Game)
Saints Offense – No. 29 (81.8) | Steelers Defense – No. 21 (97.3)
Steelers Offense – No. 20 (99.2) | Saints Defense – No. 30 (138.0)
This is an area the Saints would love to continue their success from last week. On the legs of running backs Kendre Miller, Alvin Kamara and C.J. Donaldson along with the escapability of Shough, the Saints ran for 175 rushing yards on 38 attempts last week.
The short passing game, particularly with Kamara, was very successful as well. Facing the No. 21 rushing defense in the NFL this year does offer some opportunity for New Orleans to stay balanced.
Pittsburgh has allowed four 100-yard rushing games to teams so far this season. The club is 2-2 in those games.
Turnover Differential
Saints – minus-3 (T-No. 22) | Steelers – plus-3 (T-No. 9)
The Saints and Steelers are on opposite sides of the spectrum here. New Orleans is coming off of its best takeaway performance of the season against the Giants where the defense grabbed three interceptions and the special teams unit added a fumble recovery on kickoff coverage.
Rodgers and Shough have the same touchdown pass (12) to interception (five) total, so it will take one of them committing uncharacteristic errors (which both have done at different points this season) or more issues in ball security for either team in order to swing this area of the game in one direction or the other.
Third Down Conversion Rate
Saints Offense – 42.5% (No. 8) | Steelers Defense – 32.5% (No. 6)
Steelers Offense – 32.9% (No. 28) | Saints Defense – 44.6% (No. 27)
This is a classic strength-on-strength and weakness-on-weakness matchup. The Saints’ offense has been efficient converting third downs, the Steelers’ defense has been excellent at denying them. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh offense struggles to extend drives where the New Orleans defense has struggled to stop teams from doing so.
It will be interesting to see which one wins out this week.
Pressure Rate Allowed vs. Generated
Saints Offense – 38.0% (No. 21) | Steelers Defense – 33.8% (No. 22)
Steelers Offense – 35% (No. 14) | Saints Defense – 29.0% (No. 29)
The Steelers’ defense has been surprisingly lax in creating pressure. But with the Saints relying on backup left tackle Asim Richards and perhaps another backup on the interior in right guard Jeremiah Wright, some opportunities may be present for Pittsburgh to attack those areas. Wright, however, did impress in his debut.
New Orleans hasn’t been generating a ton of pressure this season, but they have made a habit of getting home lately when they do. Against the Giants last week, New Orleans generated only a 22.4% pressure rate, but also finished with five sacks and a 9.6% sack percentage.
The Saints currently have two players, edge rushers Chase Young and Carl Granderson, who rank inside the top-10 in sacks through the first six weeks. Young is tied for No. 3 with 5.5 while Granderson is tied for No. 10 with four.
Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt is tied for No. 8 with 4.5. Fellow rusher Alex Highsmith has only a trio so far, but has the potential to pile on pressure and sacks at any moment.
While Pittsburgh hasn’t been a blitz-heavy team so far this year, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has hinted that they will soon adopt the growing NFL trend. Teams have blitzed quite a bit against the Saints this season, having faced the seventh-highest blitz percentage. This could be the week that Graham looks to turn it loose.
