Stats of the weird from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 23-9 win over the Cleveland Browns Sunday afternoon.
– Pittsburgh’s defensive resurgence continues. Over the last three games, the Steelers have recorded 17 sacks. That’s the most Pittsburgh has had in a single-season three-game span since 2020.
In fact, since sacks became an official stat in 1982, only once has Pittsburgh recorded more than 17 sacks over that time frame. The Steelers had 18 from Weeks 11-13 in 1982.
Besides 2025 and 2020, other years Pittsburgh’s notched 17 are 1983, 1992, 1994, 1997, and 2001.
– Dillon Gabriel became the 10th rookie QB facing the Steelers during the Mike Tomlin era. Their combined stats (including rematch games): 59.3 completion percentage, 9 TDs, 12 INTs, and 42 sacks.
Gabriel didn’t throw a touchdown or pick yesterday and was sacked six times.
– DB Jalen Ramsey was responsible for two of those sacks. It’s the first time he’s have registered a multi-sack game, college or pro.
– Pittsburgh has 20 sacks through five games. That’s the Steelers’ most since 2020 and only the second time it’s happened since 2002. Pittsburgh’s on pace for 68 sacks this season. Remember, it had just three through the first two games.
– And Pittsburgh has recorded five-plus sacks in three-straight games. Another thing that hasn’t happened since 2020. The 1982 season is the only other instance of it happening since sacks became an official stat. Unofficially, it also occurred in 1976 and 1978.
– One more sack stat. Despite missing Week 1, Nick Herbig leads the Steelers in sacks. He has 4.5 sacks in his first four games. Incredibly, that’s a common occurrence in Pittsburgh. Since 2020, it’s happened every year but one. T.J. Watt did it in 2020, 2021, and 2023, while Alex Highsmith did so in 2022. Only 2024 fell short.
– In the first two weeks, the Steelers allowed six runs of 15-plus yards to opposing running backs. Over the last three games? They’ve allowed zero. Cleveland’s long run Sunday was just 12 yards.
– Gabriel’s 52 pass attempts are second most by any rookie quarterback against the Steelers in franchise history. The leader might be hard to guess. The New York Giants’ Charlie Conerly threw 53 passes against the Steelers way back in 1948, a 38-23 Giants loss.
At the time, it set an NFL record for most attempts by a rookie in a game. A record that would stand for nearly 40 years until the Washington Redskins’ Jay Schroeder attempted 58 against the San Francisco 49ers in 1985. Chris Weinke’s 63 in 2001 is the current record.
– Cleveland was held out of the end zone. The last time Pittsburgh did that at home was 2019 against the Cincinnati Bengals, a 27-3 win. Since, it only happened twice on the road: at Jacksonville in 2020 and at Denver last season.
– Aaron Rodgers wasn’t sacked Sunday. It marks the second time this season he wasn’t taken down. From 2022-2024, Pittsburgh had just four games without being sacked. Rodgers and the Steelers are halfway there in 2025.
– Pittsburgh kicked a field goal on its opening possession. The Steelers have now scored more first-drive points in 2025 (20) than they did in all of 2024 (17).
– TE Darnell Washington had an NFL-best 62 receiving yards. Since college, only twice has Washington recorded more. Both came in 2022 with at Georgia, posting 64 yards against Missouri and 78 against Vanderbilt.
– Combined, Pittsburgh’s tight ends had just six first downs entering Week 6. Yesterday, they had five: Darnell Washington had three, Jonnu Smith one, and Connor Heyward one (touchdowns count as first downs). Only Pat Freiermuth didn’t move the sticks, catching one pass for 11 yards.
– Speaking of tight ends, four different ones caught passes against the Browns: Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Jonnu Smith, and Connor Heyward. That’s only the second occurrence in the Mike Tomlin era. The other happened in a 2016 loss to the Dallas Cowboys (the fake-spike TD, Zeke Elliott heartbreaker) where Ladarius Green, Xavier Grimble, David Johnson, and Jesse James had receptions.
Pro Football Reference/Stathead’s positions can get a little wonky the further back you go but assuming its outputs are accurate, 2016 and Sunday are the only times four Steelers tight ends caught at least one pass in a single game.
– RB Kenneth Gainwell had as many receptions as he had carries Sunday. Six apiece.
Per PFR, Gainwell is the first Steelers running back with six-plus receptions but no more than six carries in a game since Jaylen Samuels in 2018. He had two receptions and six catches against the Cincinnati Bengals. Before him was FB/RB John L. Williams in 1994 (who did it four times that year in the classic Larry Centers/Roger Craig fullback pass game era) and RB Rodney Carter in 1988 and 1989.
– A reminder that the Steelers have won the AFC North every year they’ve started 4-1 or better under Mike Tomlin. History says they’ll wear the crown by year’s end.
– Finally, DK Metcalf has a receiving touchdown in four-straight games during a single season. No Steeler has achieved that since Antonio Brown went eight straight in 2018. If Metcalf can make it five straight, he’ll be just the third Steeler to ever do so. Antonio Brown and, you guessed it, Ron Shanklin are the others. Shanklin went six in a row in 1973.
Lynn Swann and John Stallworth never did it more than four-straight games.
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