NFL Fantastic 5: Matt Ryan and the best stats from Week 3
By Shaun Church
Steelers’ backs get old fashioned on Panthers
Stat: Team 7.76 rush yards per attempt
Of the top 10 single-game performances for the Pittsburgh Steelers in terms of rush yards per attempt, four of them occurred during the 1970s, when Chuck Knoll roamed the sidelines and guys like Franco Harris and John Fuqua pounded defenses into a pulp with tough, physical running.
Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount have Steelers fans who have been around long enough to remember the Immaculate Reception going back in time, back to when gas was cheaper and television sets were anything but flat. Why?
Against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday Night Football, Bell and Blount combined to carry 31 times for 265 yards (8.55 yards per carry) and a touchdown in the 37-19 victory. They are the first pair of Steelers backs to each rush for 100-plus yards since 1986, when on Oct. 26 of that season Walter Abercrombie and Earnest Jackson combined to carry 43 times for 241 yards (5.60 YPC) and a touchdown in a 30-9 defeat of the Cincinnati Bengals.
As a team on Sunday night, the Steelers averaged 7.76 yards per carry, the third-highest single-game average in franchise history (playoffs included, with a minimum of 20 team carries). It also is the third-highest single-game average allowed by Carolina in its history (again including the playoffs and with a team 20-carry minimum).
Bell’s 147 yards were a career high, while Blount set a career high and led all Week 3 rushers with an 11.80 yards-per-carry average.