Steelers Get Back on Track With Win Over Saints

The Pittsburgh Steelers shut the New Orleans saints out in the second half and won for the first time in four weeks.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers had a bye week to let consecutive losses to the Dolphins and Eagles stew and they clearly put the extra preparation time to good use. They entered halftime tied with the New Orleans Saints but didn't allow a point after intermission and hit on timely big plays on offense to beat New Orleans, 20-10 at Acrisure Stadium. 

The Steelers got the ball first and Kenny Pickett and George Pickens connected for a first down but that was all they could manage with their first possession before punting. When the defense came on the field for the first time, T.J. Watt's presence was immediately felt. He was involved on a couple of tackles for loss and the Saints had to punt too. 

The Steelers had their opponents backed up to their own goal line and got the ball in good field position at their own 43-yard line. They leaned on a balanced attack with Najee Harris' legs and Pickett's arm as well as some penalties committed by the Saints to get down to the goal line, then George Pickens took a handoff into the endzone from one yard out. 

Leading 7-0 as the game turned to the second quarter, Harris ran the Steelers back into the redzone. He ripped off a 36-yard run to set up a 33-yard field goal from Matt Wright that put the home team up 10-0 with 14:26 left 

The Steelers defense continued to attack relentlessly. After allowing a first down conversion, Watt halted the drive almost single-handily. He forced an incompletion from Andy Dalton with a pressure on second down and sacked him on the next play. Wil Lutz knocked a 44-yard field goal through to bring the Saints within a touchdown again at the 6:40 mark of the first half. 

Pickett threw the Steelers into positive territory but the drive stalled after he was sacked on third and five on the Saints 37 yard line. Pressley Harvin pinned the Saints offense on their own 14 yard line but a fair catch interference penalty committed by James Pierre moved New Orleans up 15 more yards. From there, Dalton ran the two-minute offense to perfection, completing five of seven passes, the last of which was a 15-yard touchdown strike to Juwan Johnson that tied the game with 19 seconds left in the half.

Both offenses came out of the locker room sluggish to start the second half. Neither team could make anything of their first possessions. The Steelers held their breath as Pickett came up limping after a drive-ending sack and then groaned as Wright hooked a field goal wide. 

Pickett returned to the game with a heavily-taped ankle and once again, a promising drive - perhaps the best of the day for the Steelers - was held short by a penalty and sack. They opted for another field goal attempt from Wright, who got blocked again but put enough behind it to put three points on the scoreboard. 

Then the Saints began to unravel. Dalton threw an interception - Levi Wallace deflected his pass and Damontae Kazee corraled the loose ball. A pass interference call kept the drive alive in the redzone and Pickett capitalized on the mistake by scoring on the ground right up the middle to give his team a 20-10 lead with 8:38 left to play. 

The next two possessions for the saints ended in a turnover on downs and another Dalton interception thrown to Levi Wallace. From there, the Steelers could wear down the Saints defense with the two-pronged attack of Warren and Harris. New Orleans didn't touch the ball again and the Steelers secured their third win of the year. 

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