Steel Mill A.M.: Steelers stats and storylines
After the Steelers Sunday night's win over the Ravens, here a look at the stats and storylines to for the coming week.
Sunday's result
Steelers 39, Ravens 38
Three stats to know
1. The Steelers have led for a grand total of 42 seconds during the 4th quarter in three of their past five games and for 7 minutes, 22 seconds in four of their past five (not counting the Tennessee game). Yet they have won all of them. The Steelers entered the fourth quarter trailing by an average of 7.3 points in those four games.
2. Ben Roethlisberger has attempted 196 pass over the past four games, an average of 49 per contest.
3. The Steelers' 30 playoff berths and 23 division titles since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger both lead all other teams in that 48-season span.
Snap counts to know
Offense – WR Martavis Bryant (71 of 89), WR Eli Rogers (52), WR Justin Hunter (15), TE Vance McDonald (35), TE Xavier Grimble (6)
Defense – ILB Sean Spence (34 of 64), LB Arthur Moats (19), LB L.J. Fort (8), CB Coty Sensabaugh (35), CB Cameron Sutton (29)
Weekly schedule
The Steelers practice Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, Friday morning and hold a walkthrough Saturday.
Next game
Patriots (10-2 plus Monday night) at Steelers (11-2), 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Heinz Field
Three storylines for the week
1. It's been the, you know, elephant in the room all season long: The Patriots game. The Steelers have won eight consecutive and are 11-2 – yet somehow so much is riding on this game that all of the good might pale in comparison if they lose.
2. Steelers Nation will have constantly one eye on potential Ryan Shazier updates, until further notice.
3. Is the defense a house of cards? The Steelers have largely maintained lofty league rankings on defense all season long – but the unit hasn't looked all that good, at times. One of those times is now, after Joe Flacco and the Ravens shredded it. Oh, and Tom Brady is coming to town…
Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.
