1. Tough to tackle

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 1-2 punch at running back hasn’t exactly wowed the NFL with volume — the Steelers rank 31st in rushing yards per game — but some of the deeper statistics suggest Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell have been doing their part well.

Pro-football-reference.com tracks broken tackles, and on a per-carry basis, Gainwell (7.0 attempts per broken tackle) and Warren (7.2 attempts per broken tackle) each rank among the top five in the NFL. Only the Las Vegas Raiders’ Ashton Jeanty (5.5), the Los Angeles Chargers’ Omarion Hampton (6.0) and the New Orleans Saints’ Kendre Miller (6.3) rate higher.

Pro Football Focus logs something slightly different: “missed tackles forced.” In that, Warren and Gainwell each rate among having some of the best ratios in the league. PFF’s data says Warren has forced 14 missed tackles in 43 attempts and Gainwell nine among 35 attempts.

2. Rookie runners

Notable among those listed running backs is that Jeanty, Hampton and attempts-per-broken-tackle No. 5 Jacory Croskey-Merritt of Washington are all rookies. It has largely been a banner year for rookie running backs. The New York Giants’ Cam Skattebo, Hampton (who went on injured reserve this week), Croskey-Merritt and the Cleveland Browns’ Quinshon Judkins — who the Steelers defense will have to stop this week — all rank among the top 14 in the NFL in PFF grading for running backs.

In more complementary roles, the Denver Broncos’ R.J. Harvey, Houston Texans’ Woody Marks, Browns’ Dylan Sampson, Miami Dolphins’ Ollie Gordon and Jacksonville Jaguars’ Bhayshul Tuten are among the other rookie running backs who have also flashed at times in 2025.

According to ESPN, the 737 rushing yards that rookie running backs combined for in Week 4 was the most aggregate by any set of rookie backs in any September NFL week since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger. Week 3 and Week 5 resulted in similar rookie RB production.

Noticeably absent from the rookie running backs mentioned is Steelers third-round pick Kaleb Johnson. Johnson, who has eight carries for 21 yards through four games, was the sixth of the 25 running backs selected in the April draft.

3. Short-yardage success

Though the Steelers rank just 20th in the league in overall third-down conversion rate this season (38.6%), they have been very good in short-yardage third-down situations.

When electing for a running play on third downs with 2 or fewer yards to go, the Steelers have been successful on eight of nine tries. They also have gained the necessary yardage on four of six pass attempts in such situations.

In a peculiar quirk, the Steelers have played four games and had a relative dearth in “third-and-medium” snaps. They have had those 15 third-down plays with 2 or fewer yards to gain, and they have additionally had 16 snaps in which it was third-and-10 or longer. But so far this season the Steelers have only encountered 11 third downs in which the yards to gain was between 3 and 9 to go.

The Steelers are 1 for 11 in picking up first downs on those plays. At 9%, that’s worse than they’ve been on third-and-10 or more (3 for 16, or 19%).

4. Sacking the North

T.J. Watt has generally been at the top of his game when facing division rivals — and against the Browns, in particular.

Of Watt’s 111 career sacks, 48 of them (43%) have come against AFC North opponents. For context, 36% of his career games played have been against Cleveland, the Cincinnati Bengals or Baltimore Ravens.

Watt has 17 sacks in 14 career games against the Browns. His only career four-sack performance was against Cleveland (Jan. 3, 2022), as are two of his four career games with three-plus sacks. During four of the 14 games in his career against the Browns, Watt has tallied multiple sacks. He has failed to record a sack of a Cleveland quarterback just three times in 14 meetings.

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