Steelers vs. Saints preview: Paris is the trap, not the Saints

Steelers vs. Saints preview: Paris is the trap, not the Saints

By Wilson Simons

    On paper, this one shouldn’t be close. The Steelers (4-2) are coming off back-to-back wins, the Saints (2-4) have one of the worst defenses in football, and Pittsburgh might get its best safety back for the first time in about a year. That’s exactly why it scares me.

    Sunday’s game at Stade de France kicks off at 9:30 a.m. ET, the first regular-season NFL game ever played in Paris. The bigger story out of Pittsburgh this week hasn’t been the Saints. It’s been the travel.

    The Steelers didn’t leave until Thursday night, took a red-eye and landed in Paris on Friday morning. The Saints left on Monday night and were there by Tuesday. Aaron Rodgers made it pretty clear what he thought about that. He said the Steelers have left on a Thursday evening for all three of his international games, and that it would’ve been nice to come over on a Monday just once. Then bad weather wiped out Friday’s walkthrough, so the Steelers’ final practice got pushed to Saturday. DK Metcalf has never been a fan of these trips, either. Before last year’s game in Dublin, he said he wasn’t there to explore, he was there for the football game.

    My mind immediately goes to the Rams in Week 1. Sean McVay had his team arrive in Melbourne the day before the game, the 49ers got there a week early, and San Francisco won 27-7. A week later, McVay was calling himself a “dumbass coach” for making those travel plans. To be fair to McCarthy, the late-arrival approach has worked in Europe this year: teams that flew over later in the week are 3-0. But if the Steelers come out flat, this will be the first thing everyone talks about.

    The good news is who they’re playing. The Saints are allowing 29.7 points per game, tied for the worst in the league. They’re 29th in yards allowed and 30th against the run at 138 yards per game. After a week where the Steelers barely touched Jaylen Warren in the first half, this is the matchup to get him and Rico Dowdle going. I don’t think this will be another double-digit target game for Metcalf and Germie Bernard, and that’s fine. It shouldn’t need to be.

    The bigger news is on defense. DeShon Elliott practiced fully all week and is expected to be activated off injured reserve. He hasn’t played since last October, when he sprained his MCL and hyperextended his knee, an injury that needed surgery. If he plays, any Saints receiver catching a ball between the hashes is going to be listening for footsteps, and with Jaquan Brisker and Jalen Ramsey back there too, that’s three guys who hit like it’s personal.

    Elliott’s return couldn’t come at a better time, because Chris Olave is having a big year. He has 43 catches for 580 yards, and before the last two weeks he had drawn double-digit targets in every game. Tyler Shough has been up and down, but he looked a lot better last week, throwing three touchdowns and running for a fourth as the Saints scored 34 straight points to beat the Giants. He’s doing it while playing through broken bones in his non-throwing hand. He’s been more competent than Jalon Daniels was last week, and Daniels still picked this defense apart for three quarters.

    The run game shouldn’t be the problem, either. The Steelers’ season numbers against the run are middle of the pack, but over the last two weeks they’ve been as good as anyone. Jonathan Taylor, one of the five best backs in football, managed 45 yards on 15 carries. A week after Bucky Irving ran for 165 yards against Dallas, they held him to 46. Pittsburgh is tied for sixth in the league in stuffed runs. 

    The one concern is depth up front: Sebastian Joseph-Day went on injured reserve this week with a triceps injury, so Yahya Black and rookie defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio will have to play bigger roles next to Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton. Black already showed up last week with his first career sack and a tipped field goal. With Travis Etienne on injured reserve, the Saints’ backfield of Kendre Miller and Alvin Kamara isn’t anywhere near the level of the backs this defense just shut down.

    T.J. Watt popped up on Thursday’s injury report with a calf issue. He was limited that day, but he has no designation for Sunday, and McCarthy said he doesn’t expect it to affect Watt’s availability. Nick Herbig finally got home twice last week. If the edge rushers can get to Shough, I don’t see how Pittsburgh loses this.

    That’s what worries me, though. This Steelers team never seems to take the easy wins and make them easy. Last week the offense looked stagnant for three quarters and an undrafted rookie quarterback carved up the defense. This should be a two- or three-score game. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Prediction: Steelers 34, Saints 21.

    One more thing: as I was writing this, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that several teams believe the Jaguars could trade Brian Thomas Jr. before the Nov. 10 deadline, and he named the Chiefs and Steelers as potential suitors. Thomas has zero catches in his last two games, but he had 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie in 2024. Omar Khan, the phone is right there.