Cheat Sheet: Steelers vs. Giants

SERIES HISTORY

Although these teams haven't met since 2020, they have faced off 78 times. New York leads the series, 44-31-3, starting in 1933 when the Pittsburgh Pirates lost the first six meetings. In fact, in the first 17 matchups, Pittsburgh went 2-14-1 against the Giants. The Steelers are in the midst of a three-game winning streak in this series. In the Super Bowl era, Pittsburgh is 7-4 against the Giants.

MATCHUP OVERVIEW

• The Giants are 2-5, but both their wins have come on the road. They are on a two-game losing streak in which they have been outscored 45-10. Pittsburgh is now 5-2 with 2-1 record at home. Although they have yet to play an AFC North game, the Steelers are 4-1 in the conference.
• The Giants have been outscored by 50 points this year while the Steelers have a plus-60-point differential, second-best in the AFC. After finishing last week's game with 31 unanswered points, Pittsburgh has a second half point differential of plus-68, the best in the league.
• New York's opponents average 1.5 more yards per pass attempt than what the Giants produce. Their opponents also average 1.5 more yards per rush attempt, worst in the league. Last week, the Giants were outrushed by 193 yards.
• The Giants have a minus-2 turnover differential and have just one interception through seven games, while Pittsburgh has eight more interceptions than its opponents, having only thrown one interception all year. The Steelers have also gained 137 more yards than their opponents off interception return yardage. Pittsburgh has just four giveaways in 2024. Dating back to the 2023 season, Pittsburgh has the league's best turnover ratio (plus-20). The Steelers are plus-9 this season. New York's defense is intercepting .5% of the passes thrown. Only the Jaguars are worse. Pittsburgh's defense is intercepting 3.9% of the passes thrown, only three defenses are better. On a turnovers per drive basis, only the Bills and Commanders are better than Pittsburgh's offense and only the Packers, Vikings and Bears are better than Pittsburgh's defense.
• New York only possessed the football for 24:40 last week, but still sits at 31:30 for the season. The Steelers are at 32:03.
• Pittsburgh has run the ball 77 more times than its opponents and average 53 more rushing yards per game. The Steelers also have five more rushing touchdowns than they have given up.
• The Giants run 64.7 plays per game. The Steelers are at 63.1. Pittsburgh's opponents are averaging 57.9 plays per game, while New York's defense is seeing 58.4.
• New York allows 5.4 yards per rush attempt. That is the highest in the league. The Steelers allow 3.6 yards per rush attempt. Only the Ravens are better.
• New York (2.66 seconds) and Pittsburgh (2.7) are fourth and fifth in terms opponents' average time to throw.
• The Steelers are 12-2 since 2023 when allowing two or fewer sacks. They are 3-7 when allowing three or more. There were 13 total sacks in the Giants/Eagles game last week - nine in the first half. New York has nine more sacks than it has allowed this season.
• The Giants' opponents have committed 51 accepted penalties compared to 36 by New York and they are plus-119 in penalty yardage differential.
• 52.7% of Pittsburgh's offensive drives reach third downs. 52.1 of New York's reach third downs. That is 29^th and 28^th in the league respectively.
• Pittsburgh average drive starts on its 32.4-yard line. Only the Saints and Bills begin drives with better starting field position. Pittsburgh's defense starts its average drive at the 26.2-yard line. Only the Saints defense begin drives with better starting field position.
• Russell Wilson has a career record in primetime games of 33-17-1. He has the seventh-most wins in primetime history. Wilson would tie Brett Favre with a win this week. Meanwhile, Daniel Jones is 1-14 (0-2 this season) in primetime over his career. That is the worst winning percentage since 1970 among quarterbacks with at least 10 primetime starts.
• 75% of the teams that started the season 5-2 since 1990 went on to make the playoffs and 43.5% won their division. Teams that start 6-2 make the postseason go 82.5% of the time and win the division at a 54.5% clip. Teams that start 5-3 go to the playoffs 64.1% of the time and win the division at a 29.7% clip.

WHEN PITTSBURGH HAS THE BALL

• The Steelers averaged 6.3 yards per play last week, a yard and a half more than their average heading into Week 7.
• Pittsburgh's offense is passing the football on just 46.8% of their snaps. Only the Ravens are lower. The Giants opponents have thrown the ball on 56.5% of their plays, 17^th highest.
• The Steelers offense uses 13 Personnel (12%) at the league's highest rate and 12 Personnel (23%) at the league's seventh-highest rate.
• The Giants defense faces 11 Personnel (65.5%) at the league's highest rate and is seeing 12 Personnel (10.7%) less than only one other defense.
• Pittsburgh scored 37 points against the Jets, its highest total of the season. The last time the Steelers scored 37-pluscpoints was Week 11 of the 2021 season. They have scored 69 points over the past two weeks.
• The Steelers passing game had four plays of 25-plus yards last week. In the previous two weeks, they had just two total.
• New York allows a 71% completion percentage. Only the Falcons and Cardinals are worse. The Giants allow 179.4 passing yards per game, sixth-best in the league, and their 5.4 yards per pass attempt allowed is tied for fourth-best with the Jets. Against just the wide receiver position, the Giants allow a 70.2% catch rate, third-worst in the NFL.
• The Giants average pass attempt against comes just 5.99 yards downfield. Only the Falcons and Seahawks face a shorter average depth of target.
• Last week was Wilson's 17^th career game with at least two passing touchdowns and one rushing score. That tied Steve Young for fourth all time.
• Since 2016, Wilson leads the NFL in completions, yards and touchdowns on passes 20 or more yards downfield of quarterbacks with a minimum of 250 attempts.
• George Pickens racked up 111 receiving yards with a touchdown last week and averaged 3.83 yards per route run. He was the first wide receiver to reach 100 yards against the Jets this season. He ranks seventh in the NFL in target share (30%) and third in air yards share (51%). Pickens had a 70% air yards share against the Jets and his 151 air yards in that game, trailing only DK Metcalf in Week 7. Last week was Pickens' highest average depth of target (17.9) this season. His 2.52 yards per route run for the season is seventh-best in the NFL, but his 7.6 targets per game is 19^th and Pickens' 26.9 routes run per game is 58^th.
• Against the Jets, the combination of Pickens, Pat Freiermuth and Calvin Austin averaged 27.9 yards per reception. The Giants allow an 84.9% catch rate to tight ends (31^st) but have yet to allow a touchdown to the position.
• Freiermuth has not had more than three targets in a game since Week 4 and only has one game this season with more than four receptions.
• New York's 4.4 sacks per game is the highest in the NFL, and over the past three games they average 5.3. New York averages 6.7 sacks per game on the road. Eleven different Giants have a sack this season, led by Dexter Lawrence with nine, which is the most in the NFL. Lawrence had two sacks in Week 7 on just 18 pass-rush opportunities. Lawrence's 11.8% sack rate was his highest since Week 1 of 2020. The Steelers only gave up one sack on Sunday Night. The Giants are sacking opposing quarterbacks on 11.6% of their drop backs. Not only is that best in the league, but it is 1.4% better than the second place Broncos.
• Last week, Wilson held the ball for 2.5 seconds or longer on 21 of 29 pass attempts (72.4%), completing 11 for 204 yards. Since leaving the Seahawks in 2022, Wilson has held for over 2.5 seconds on 61.6% of his pass attempts, the fifth-highest rate among quarterbacks with 500 or more pass attempts. The Giants have generated the highest sack rate (24.4%) on such pass attempts this season.
• Only the Lions and Colts have used play-action on their pass attempts at a higher rate than Pittsburgh (31.4%). In Week 7, Wilson led the league in passing yards off play-action (157). He was 9 of 11 with a 14.3 yards per attempt using play-action against the Jets. The Giants are allowing a 122.2 passer rating against play-action, third-worst in the league.
• Wilson has a 28 to 8 touchdown to interception ratio since the start of the 2023 season. That is fourth-best in the NFL. Quarterbacks against the Giants this season have an 8 to 1 ratio, second-worst.
• Saquon Barkley rushed for 176 yards against his former team last week, while only playing one fourth quarter snap. He had three runs of 38 yards or longer and averaged 10.4 yards per carry.
• The Steelers rushed for 149 yards in Week 7, 102 of it from Harris. This was Harris' second-straight game with 100-plus rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
• Warren was the only running back that saw the field for the Steelers last week on third downs. But Harris out snapped Warren 26 to 16 on early downs. In the first half against the Jets, Warren out snapped Harris 22 to 12. Warren did see a season-high in snaps (50%), attempts (34%), and route participation (61%). Harris hasn't played more than 60% of the snaps in games Warren has been healthy.
• Pittsburgh has 27 rushes of 10-plus yards. That is the eighth-most in the league. New York has allowed 31 such runs and 17.4% of the rushing attempts against, most in the league. 63.9% of all New York's rushing yardage allowed come on 10-plus yard runs. The Giants have also given up eight runs of 30-plus yards. No other defense has more than five. The Giants give up 3.43 yards after first contact. Only four defenses are worse. New York also gives up 5.3 vs. interior runs (between the offensive tackles). That is worst in the league.
• The Giants held Philadelphia to one of 13 on third downs last week.
• Pittsburgh scored points on all six of its red zone opportunities last week, including four touchdowns.
• The Steelers are producing .26 field goals per drive. Only Washington, San Francisco and Dallas have a higher rate.
• In terms of snap-weighted age, the Giants have the NFL's youngest defense.

WHEN NEW YORK HAS THE BALL

• The Giants averaged 2.2 yards per play last week and didn't have a single play over 13 yards.
• New York has scored 10 total points over the past two weeks.
• The Dolphins (11.7) are the only team averaging fewer points per game than New York (14.1). Meanwhile, only the Chargers (13.8) are allowing fewer points per game than Pittsburgh (14.4). New York averages just 1.29 points and .13 touchdowns per drive, only better than Miami and Cleveland. The Steelers allow 1.4 points and .15 touchdowns per drive. Only the Chargers and Broncos are better, and Pittsburgh allows the second-fewest scoring plays (2.7) per game.
• New York is third-highest in usage of 10 Personnel (2%) and sixth in usage of 13 Personnel (3.7%).
• The Giants are throwing the ball 59.8% of the time, the seventh-highest rate in the league. Pittsburgh's opponents are throwing it 61% of the time, the fifth-highest rate.
• New York turns a set of downs into a new set of downs or touchdown at a 67% clip. Only eight offenses are worse.
• Jones threw for 99 yards last week, completing 14 of 21 attempts. The Giants produced just 94 net yards and nine first downs in the first three quarters of play against Philadelphia before Jones was pulled from the game. He has thrown six touchdowns against four interceptions in 2024. Jones has averaged just 4.9 yards per attempt over the past two games without a touchdown pass.
• Drew Lock entered last week's game early in the fourth quarter. He threw the ball eight times, completing three for just six yards.
• In his last four games, rookie Malik Nabers has received target shares of 66.7%, 36.4%, 39.5%, and 29.6% last week.
• Wan'Dale Robinson got a 33% target share against the Eagles and sits at 29% for the season. Robinson has the second-most targets in the NFL and is on pace to catch 104 passes this season. He has five games already with nine or more targets and under 75 receiving yards. No other player has more than three. His 4.5 yards per target is the lowest mark of 69 players with at least 30 pass game opportunities.
• Over the past four weeks, no team hast thrown to tight ends less than the Giants.
• Tyrone Tracy ran a route on 68% of the Giants drop backs last week.
• The Giants and Jets receivers are tied with 12 dropped passes, most in the league.
• Last week against Philadelphia, Jones was sacked five times in the first half and Giants took a total of eight sacks. Coming into that game, the Eagles had just 11 sacks in five games. All eight of Philadelphia's sacks came with a four-man rush. The Steelers have just two sacks over the past two weeks.
• Pittsburgh has batted eight passes this year, most in the league. Only Kansas City's defense had more than the Steelers in 2023.
• The Giants averaged just 2.2 yards per pass attempt in Week 7.
• Just five defenses are seeing play-action against them at a lower rate than Pittsburgh (16.7%).
• No Giants had more than six rushing attempts last week. New York only called three handoffs in the first half of that game.
• Devin Singletary returned from injury in Week 7, but Tracy out snapped Singletary 39-12. Only early downs that ratio was 21-10, and Tracy played half of the Giants dozen third down snaps.
• The Jets only rushed for 54 yards in Pittsburgh last week. The Steelers have given up 111 rushing yards over the past two games combined, and their 81 rushing yards allowed per game is better than every defense besides Baltimore and Minnesota. Pittsburgh has allowed just three rushing touchdowns, tied for best in the league. The Steelers have also given up just 18 rushes of 10-plus yards. Only three defenses have fewer. Opponents running against Pittsburgh are stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage on 20.9% of rush attempts. Only three defenses are better. The Giants average just .98 rushing yards before contact per carry. Only five offenses are worse. In the same defensive metric, Pittsburgh's .91 is third-best and the Steelers 2.67 yards after contact is fourth-best.
• Jones has carried the ball 45 times this year and is New York's third-leading rusher (164 yards).
• With Andrew Thomas out for the season, Joshua Ezeudu got his first career start at left tackle. Ezeudu had played three career snaps before Sunday.
• New York converted just three third downs on 14 tries last week.
• Philadelphia was a perfect three-for-three in the red zone against the Giants.
• The Giants punt on 49% of their drives. Only Cleveland has a higher rate.
• The Steelers defense creates a three-and-out on 46% of their drives. Only four defenses are worse.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Since 2022, the Steelers have the NFL's most blocked kicks/punts with nine and 11 since 2021, also most in the league. They have a block in three-straight games.
• The Giants opponents have only returned five kickoffs this year. New York has 16 kickoff returns.
• New York averages 9.1 yards per punt return and give up just 6.4.
• There have been six field goals missed in Giants' games. There have only been three missed field goals in Steelers games this season, just one by Pittsburgh.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

Dec. 4, 2016: Steelers 24, Giants 14, Heinz Field

Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger, two of the top three quarterbacks selected in the 2004 NFL Draft, squared off in a game that ended up being Pittsburgh's third win in a seven-game winning streak to finish the regular season and propel the Steelers into the playoffs. Pittsburgh inevitably lost the AFC Championship game in New England that season. In Week 13 against New York, Roethlisberger outdueled Manning in a game that Le'Veon Bell accounted for 182 yards from scrimmage to help the Steelers control the clock for 34:08 minutes.

KEY MATCHUPS

Giants WR Malik Nabers vs. Steelers CB Joey Porter - An extremely high percentage of the Giants passing targets go to Nabers, who has been sensational in his rookie season, and Wan'Dale Robinson, who mostly operates out of the slot. That sets up well for a shadow situation on Nabers for Porter.

Steelers OC Ryan McCollum vs. Giants NT Dexter Lawrence - Lawrence is the best nose tackle in the NFL. And, not only is he one of the best defensive players in all of football, but Lawrence is one of the best players period. Teams double team Lawrence at a very high rate … and it doesn't matter. McCollum played well as Zach Frazier's injury replacement last week, but he will need a lot of help with Lawrence in his third career start.