Scouting the Packers: Steelers opponent hasn’t won in Pittsburgh since 1970

SCOUTING THE PACKERS

Last meeting

Steelers beat Packers, 23-19, on Nov. 12, 2003, in Pittsburgh

Key matchup

Steelers front seven vs. Packers RB Josh Jacobs

While Micah Parsons gets all the attention as a come-from-anywhere Green Bay pass rusher who must be accounted for, the player on offense who elicits focus from opposing defenses is Jacobs. Jacobs has 24 touchdowns (23 rushing) in 23 games with the Packers. Jacobs did not score in either prior career game against the Steelers, each coming while he was with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Key injuries

The Steelers welcome back No. 2 WR Calvin Austin III after a two-game absence because of a shoulder injury. Inside linebacker Malik Harrison (knee) is also a candidate to come off of the injured reserve list to play for the first time since the season opener. Green Bay lists five players as questionable: defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt (knee), receiver Christian Watson (knee), kicker Brandon McManus (right quadricep), receiver Matthew Golden (hip) and defensive lineman Warren Brinson (hamstring). Defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness (knee) and receiver Dontayvion Wicks (calf) were ruled out.

Series record

Packers lead 19-17

Series notes

The Steelers have won six consecutive games against the Packers in Pittsburgh dating to 1998. The Packers’ most recent win in Pittsburgh came in 1970. … The Steelers have won six of seven regular-season games against Green Bay overall. Amidst that span, though, was a loss to the Packers in Super Bowl XLV in February 2011. … The Packers won the first nine meetings between the teams, prevailing in those games from 1933-46 with an average margin of victory of 26.3 points. Only one of those games was within one possession. … Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers spent his first 18 NFL seasons with the Packers but played at Acrisure Stadium only once in that time — a 37-36 Steelers win Dec. 20, 2009, in which Mike Wallace scored on a 19-yard reception from Ben Roethlisberger as time expired. … Rodgers with Green Bay faced the Steelers on just one other occasion: in 2021, a 21-17 Packers win at Lambeau Field. … The Steelers over a three-game span of home games are facing the three teams they have their longest active home winning streaks against: they extended a run of 22 consecutive home wins against the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 12, and they face the Indianapolis Colts — a team they have beaten in nine straight home games — on Nov. 2.

Notable

Quirky but true: the Packers have scored exactly 27 points in each of their four wins this season. … Green Bay ranks sixth in the NFL in total defense (288.5 yards per game), including No. 2 against the run (76.5). … The Steelers are debuting a throwback uniform for the game, a fusion honoring various eras of the franchise that features a gold helmet and a crest of the city of Pittsburgh on the front of the jersey. Since Mike Tomlin became coach in 2007, the Steelers are 24-8 when wearing alternate uniforms, including 16-5 when in a throwback. They won 14 of their past 17 in such occasions. … The Steelers have the most wins of any AFC team against NFC opponents (135, including 129 in the regular season) since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger. .. Only the Baltimore Ravens (633) have a better overall winning percentage than the Steelers (.624) by an AFC franchise against NFC opponents. … Over the past nine seasons, the Steelers have the most one-possession victories in the NFL (60). They also have been involved in the most one-score games over that span — 90 of their 138 games in that time have been decided by eight points or fewer. The Steelers’ .678 winning percentage in one-possession games is the best in the NFL since 2017.

Fantasy tip

The Steelers have allowed only two rushing touchdowns this season — only one team has allowed fewer — but Jacobs has eight rushing touchdowns in only six games this season.