The Steelers left themselves with a lot of work to do coming out of their bye week if they are going to avoid a losing record this season and they got the first step out of the way on Sunday.
Quarterback Kenny Pickett and wide receiver George Pickens ran for touchdowns and the Steelers beat the Saints 20-10 at home. The victory moves Pittsburgh to 3-6 on the season and they’ll stay at home to try to extend their winning streak to two games against the Bengals next weekend.
Pickett’s touchdown run in the fourth quarter put the Steelers up by 10 and it looked like they would extend that lead after stopping Saints quarterback Andy Dalton short of a first down on a sneak on the ensuing drive. Kicker Matthew Wright missed his second field goal of the game with 5:33 left, however, and that gave New Orleans another chance to try for a comeback.
Alex Highsmith’s second sack of the game pushed the Saints backward right off the bat, however, and Dalton was intercepted by cornerback Levi Wallace a couple of plays later. It was the second interception of the fourth quarter for Dalton and there will likely be more questions for head coach Dennis Allen about whether to turn back to Jameis Winston against the Rams next weekend.
Dalton was 17-of-27 for 174 yards and a touchdown to go with the interceptions. The running game didn’t offer much help as Alvin Kamara was limited to eight carries for 26 yards.
The Steelers run game was much more successful. Najee Harris ran 20 times for 99 yards and the Steelers posted a season-high 217 rushing yards as a team. If that’s the start of a better stretch for the ground game, the Steelers’ chances of finding some more wins in the coming weeks will look a lot better.
