Warren Sharp of Sharp Football dropped a mind-blowing stat on Monday afternoon, and it's not a good reflection of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense in 2024.
"This is REALLY hard to do, sounds almost impossible but … on the Steelers *own* opening drives of games last year, their opponents scored more TDs than the Steelers did," Sharp wrote. "Read that again, 0 TDs scored = Steelers offense (17 games) 1 TD allowed = Steelers QB threw pick-6. Yikes."
Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt picked off Russell Wilson for a 51-yard touchdown in the Week 13 game. Wilson bounced back, finishing with 414 yards passing and three touchdowns in a Steelers' 44-38 shootout win. Ironically, that was the best performance by the Steelers all year.
The Steelers allowed the most points (112) in the first quarter in 2024, according to Sharp . Despite struggling in the first quarter, the Steelers finished the season eighth in points allowed (20.4).
To say the least, slow starts on both sides of the ball were a major issue for the Steelers last season. That's something that will need to be corrected this upcoming season. The Steelers ranked dead last in first quarter point differential last season (-3.9), according to Matt Williamson of Steelers.com.
Along with not scoring an opening drive touchdown in 2025, the Steelers went three-and-out nine times. They finished the regular season with a streak of six straight games started in that manner.
The last time the Steelers posted a touchdown on their first drive was Dec. 23, 2023 , a 34-11 home win over Jake Browning and the Bengals.
Pittsburgh began the 2024 season by managing only six Chris Boswell field goals against the Atlanta Falcons . Pittsburgh's initial offensive series in that one last 10 plays, gaining all of 31 yards and concluding on a 57-yard Boswell boot.
Boswell capped six of the Steelers' opening drives with a made field goal, including four straight against the Dallas Cowboys , Las Vegas Raiders , New York Jets and New York Giants . He missed another from 58 yards out in a 24-19 loss at Cleveland on Nov. 21.
The aforementioned march against the Cowboys spanned 11 plays and stretched 52 yards. The one against the Giants was 10 plays and 57 yards, with the latter figure being the longest of any initial drive for the Steelers this campaign. Pittsburgh ate up 5 minutes, 48 seconds in their first matchup against the Browns , the longest in that respect.
Brendan Howe contributed reporting for this story.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Top Analyst Reveals Mind-Blowing Steelers Stat from 2024 Season
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