WEEK 9 · FINAL
THE READ
Chargers win the turnover battle and the game
Steelers could not stop handing it over, and Chargers made it count — 20-17. Matthew Stafford threw for Steelers — 24/40, 253 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT — in a losing effort. T.J. Watt was the problem for Steelers — 2 sacks. Three weeks of this now from DK Metcalf: 77 receiving yards a game, well clear of his 54 average. Total yards: Steelers 394, Chargers 263.
The Wire · league beat
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelers | -12.1 | -1.6 | -10.5 | -5 |
| Chargers | -12.5 | +1.2 | -13.7 | -10 |
SRS is how many points a side beats an
average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good
team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20.
SOS is how hard that schedule has been.
Full table.
IN THE BOOTH
Riley Parker
The chaos merchant
Pittsburgh dominated the field—394 yards to 263—and still lost by 3, which is what happens when you gift away 2 possessions and your opponent doesn't cough it up once; the Chargers' scoreless turnover margin is the entire game right there.
Ava Collins
Beat reporter
· replying
Matthew Stafford had 253 yards and a touchdown on 24 completions against a defense that generated only 3 sacks, yet still threw the ball into traffic enough to gift Pittsburgh a loss they had no business losing—that's the kind of afternoon that defines whether a backup can stay in this league.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers —
none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that
did not happen.
Matthew Stafford
Steelers
24/40, 253 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
T.J. Watt
Steelers
2 sacks
Omarion Hampton
Chargers
15 carries, 75 yards, 1 TD
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
Total yards
Steelers 394, Chargers 263
Steelers
Through the air
Steelers 253, Chargers 168
Steelers
On the ground
Steelers 141, Chargers 95
Steelers
Giveaways
Chargers 0, Steelers 2
Chargers
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
THE MATCHUP SCOUT
every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 61% · Rush 39% · 16.9 scored, 27.4 allowed
6.8 yds/att
57.9% completions
4.5 yds/carry
290.4 yds/game
1.2 giveaways/game
6.3% sack rate
last 5: 0-5
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 49 · Conservative
Balance 89
Ball security 66
Back usage 34%
QB runs 2.8/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 94
WR 84
TE 80
RB 84
OL 80
DL 86
LB 78
DB 86
Best: Matthew Stafford QB 94
Fastest: DK Metcalf WR 94 SPD
5 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 70% · Rush 30% · 16.4 scored, 30.1 allowed
6.8 yds/att
54.8% completions
5.1 yds/carry
337.4 yds/game
1.7 giveaways/game
8.9% sack rate
last 5: 1-4
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 32 · Turnover-prone
Balance 80
Ball security 53
Back usage 25%
QB runs 2.7/game
Most exposed: pressure -- sacked on 8.9% of dropbacks
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 90
WR 81
TE 79
RB 81
OL 85
DL 78
LB 76
DB 84
Best: Rashawn Slater LT 93
Fastest: Brenen Thompson WR 97 SPD
6 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Steelers receivers vs Chargers secondary
84 v 84
EVEN
Chargers receivers vs Steelers secondary
81 v 86
STEELERS
Steelers line vs Chargers front
80 v 78
EVEN
Chargers line vs Steelers front
85 v 86
EVEN
Steelers backs vs Chargers run defence
84 v 77
STEELERS
Chargers backs vs Steelers run defence
81 v 83
EVEN
Steelers passer vs Chargers secondary
94 v 84
STEELERS
Chargers passer vs Steelers secondary
90 v 86
CHARGERS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
STEELERS
CHARGERS
STEELERS
CHARGERS
STEELERS
CHARGERS
STEELERS
CHARGERS
STEELERS
CHARGERS
STEELERS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Stafford QB | 24/40 | 253 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 76.3 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Herbert QB | 18/39 | 168 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 67 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kewan Lacy HB | 16 | 73 | 4.6 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 23 | 0 |
| Jaylen Warren HB | 5 | 48 | 9.6 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 23 | 0 |
| Matthew Stafford QB | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| DK Metcalf WR | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Michael Pittman WR | 1 | -3 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omarion Hampton HB | 15 | 75 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 23 | 0 |
| Justin Herbert QB | 3 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Keaton Mitchell HB | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Kimani Vidal HB | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DK Metcalf WR | 6 | 86 | 14.3 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 20 |
| Josh Downs WR | 6 | 69 | 11.5 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 18 |
| Kewan Lacy HB | 3 | 33 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 24 |
| Michael Pittman WR | 3 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 13 |
| Germie Bernard WR | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| Jaylen Warren HB | 2 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 8 |
| Pat Freiermuth TE | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quentin Johnston WR | 5 | 60 | 12 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 19 |
| Ladd McConkey WR | 4 | 60 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 27 |
| David Njoku TE | 4 | 33 | 8.2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| Omarion Hampton HB | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| Brenen Thompson WR | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Keaton Mitchell HB | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joey Porter CB | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Payton Wilson WILL | 5 | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| T.J. Watt LEDG | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Patrick Queen MIKE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jaquan Brisker SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jamel Dean CB | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Poona Ford DT | 3 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeShon Elliott SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Alex Highsmith REDG | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jalen Ramsey FS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suntarine Perkins LEDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cole Holcomb WILL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Derrick Harmon DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Asante Samuel Jr CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genesis Smith SS | 7 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Tarheeb Still CB | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Derwin James Jr SS | 5 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Dorian Strong CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jalon Kilgore SS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Daiyan Henley WILL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Junior Colson MIKE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Akheem Mesidor REDG | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Kennard REDG | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Cam Hart CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tuli Tuipulotu LEDG | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Elijah Molden FS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Donte Jackson CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Barrett DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Eboigbe DT | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Boswell K | 1/1 | 2/2 | 27 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Dicker K | 2/2 | 2/2 | 30 |
RECENT FORM
Steelers
L
24–31 vs Bengals
WK 8
L
16–17 vs Raiders
WK 7
L
21–27 vs Lions
WK 6
Chargers
L
7–38 vs Browns
WK 8
L
24–34 vs Broncos
WK 6
L
25–31 vs Bears
WK 5
TEAM STATS
| Steelers | Chargers | |
|---|---|---|
| 394 | TOTAL YARDS | 263 |
| 253 | PASSING YARDS | 168 |
| 141 | RUSHING YARDS | 95 |
| 3 | SACKS ALLOWED | 4 |
| 4 | SACKS MADE | 3 |
| 2 | GIVEAWAYS | 0 |
| 0 | TAKEAWAYS | 2 |
Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.