Jaylen Warren is literally carrying the Steelers’ offense while the defense keeps making splash plays. The Steelers took down the New Orleans Saints in Paris yesterday, 16-10 as Warren ran for 101 of their season-high 148 yards on the ground. Aaron Rodgers passed Peyton manning for third place on the NFL all-time touchdown pass list and the Steelers’ defense faltered just a bit, but shut down the Saints’ offense.
Warren had runs covering 29, 26, and 15 yards in the first half to set the tone and Aaron Rodgers hit tight end Darnell Washington with a four-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. Chris Boswell kicked field goals of 28, 47, and 39 yards to account for the Steelers points. Rodgers completed 19 of 31 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions.
On defense, the Steelers held the Saints to just 11 yards rushing on 14 attempts, and while the Saints’ Tyler Shough did complete 30 of 38 passes for 278 yards and a score, he also threw a key interception to Payton Wilson, who made a beautiful catch on a short out route on the first Saints drive of the third quarter. Then in the fourth quarter, the defense stood tall again, with Yahya Black and Cam Heyward batting down passes on first and second down and Patrick Queen sacking Shough on third down.
Coach Mike McCarthy was thrilled with his team’s work under tough circumstances, including a 4,000-mile trip across the ocean.
McCarthy says it was a great trip, and Steelers Nation will go anyway to watch their team.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers loved making the trip.
Rodgers thought they were a bit off in the passing game, but the ground game came through.
Linebacker TJ Watt says it was a great all-around performance by the defense, and they find a way to make big plays at the right time.
Payton Wilson says the play on which he made the interception was something they worked on in practice last week, and Aaron Rodgers jumped in to explain a bit more.
The only injury in the game was to TJ Watt, after he banged knees with Alex Highsmith on a near-sack of Shough in the third quarter. Watt went to the sidelines briefly, but returned to action.
In the AFC North, the Browns engineered another fourth-quarter rally for a 27-24 win over the Titans while the Bengals erased a 13-0 halftime deficit and scored 35 unanswered points to pummel the Ravens, 35-13. The Steelers and Browns lead the division at 5-2 while the Bengals are 4-2 and the Ravens 4-3.
The Steelers are right back at it this Sunday, hosting the Browns this Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. Cleveland beat the Steelers on October 1st, 27-24.
