Steelers grind out 16-10 win over Saints in Paris for third straight victory

Steelers grind out 16-10 win over Saints in Paris for third straight victory

By Wilson Simons

    The NFL’s first game in Paris won’t be remembered as a classic. The Steelers won’t care.

    Chris Boswell kicked three field goals, Darnell Washington caught the game’s only Steelers touchdown, and Payton Wilson’s diving interception stopped the Saints in the red zone as Pittsburgh beat New Orleans 16-10 on Sunday at Stade de France. The Steelers are 5-2 and have won three straight.

    For all the noise about the Steelers flying in on a Thursday red-eye while the Saints had been in France since Tuesday, Pittsburgh looked like the more comfortable team from the start. Kaden Wetjen returned the opening kickoff to the 38. On the second play from scrimmage, Jaylen Warren hit the B gap, broke a few tackles and ran 29 yards. At this point, you just expect it from him.

    The drive stalled when Aaron Rodgers threw a third-down fade to DK Metcalf in single coverage that fell incomplete, and Boswell kicked a 28-yarder for a 3-0 lead. That fade showed up again in the second quarter, again incomplete. I still don’t understand what the Steelers see in it. It cost them a touchdown here, and it cost them the chance to run out the clock in Tampa last week.

    The Saints tied it after a 49-yard catch set them up deep in Steelers territory, and T.J. Watt nearly stopped it there. He spun past the right tackle, knocked the ball out of Tyler Shough’s hands and recovered it himself, but replay ruled Shough down before the ball came loose. Daniel Carlson kicked a 38-yarder to make it 3-3.

    Rodgers answered with the best throw of the day. On third-and-14, he dropped a perfect deep ball over two defenders to Metcalf for 51 yards to the Saints 4. Two plays later, with Chase Young coming free off the edge, Rodgers lofted a fade to the 6-foot-7 Washington over cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Washington held on through the hand-fighting for a 4-yard touchdown. Credit to Washington: the ball was underthrown, and he never let it move.

    New Orleans tied it just before halftime. A 43-yard kickoff return set up a drive that reached the goal line, and the Steelers made two goal-line stops. Jamel Dean punched the ball out of Shough’s hands at the pylon, but it went out at the 1, and Nick Herbig knocked it loose from Kendre Miller a play later, only for replay to rule Miller down. On fourth-and-goal, Shough hit Devaughn Vele on a quick out for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 10-10 with 1:45 left.

    Warren then took an inside zone run outside, stutter-stepped past a defender and got out of bounds in field-goal range. Boswell drilled a 47-yarder as time expired to put the Steelers back ahead 13-10.

    Warren had 114 scrimmage yards on nine carries and three catches at halftime. The difference in the offense when he’s off the field is obvious, and that’s what worries me. He’s become the Steelers’ get-out-of-jail-free card, and at 5-foot-8, he can’t be that every week. Rico Dowdle helped on the final drive, but this team leans on Warren to a scary degree.

    The third quarter belonged to the defense. Shough moved the ball on short completions and drove the Saints into the red zone before Wilson jumped an out route intended for Chris Olave for a diving interception. The Steelers turned it into a 39-yard Boswell field goal for a 16-10 lead after Rodgers found Brandon Smith for a 20-yard diving catch, only the second of Smith’s career.

    The Saints never scored again. Carlson missed a 52-yarder early in the fourth quarter. On their next drive, Yahya Black and Cam Heyward batted down back-to-back passes, and Heyward broke out Joey Porter’s old celebration. On third-and-10, Patrick Queen sacked Shough to force a punt.

    The Steelers then ran out the clock. Dowdle opened the drive with a 16-yard run, Rodgers scrambled for a first down on third-and-6 out of an empty set, and after Boswell’s 37-yarder was wiped out by an offside penalty that gave Pittsburgh a first down, the Steelers kneeled it out.

    The Saints ran 17 times for 18 yards, just over a yard per carry. Shough completed 30 of 38 passes for 278 yards, but the Steelers bent without breaking. Pittsburgh outgained New Orleans 343 to 281 and won the turnover battle 1-0.

    Rodgers finished 19-of-30 for 212 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. He was sacked three times. The Steelers entered the weekend as the most-sacked team in the league on third down, and that didn’t change.

    The Steelers come home to face the Browns next Sunday, a chance to get even for that Thursday night loss in Cleveland before the bye.

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