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THE WIRE
WK 5 FINAL Texans 28, Titans 38 WK 5 FINAL Vikings 28, 49ers 14 WK 5 FINAL Falcons 21, Cardinals 49 MOVE Jaye Coyne traded to Panthers MOVE Taylor Rapp signed with Panthers MOVE Percy Butler signed with Chiefs THE WIRE someone: Vikings win the turnover battle and the game THE WIRE someone: The booth on Broncos beat Ravens, 28-21
WEEK 4 · FINAL
STEELERS 2-3 · 26.0 PPG 29 – 23 BRONCOS 2-3 · 23.0 PPG
THE READ
Aaron Rodgers and Bo Nix trade blows

Aaron Rodgers threw for 405 yards and 3 touchdowns on 25 of 39 attempts, but here's the weird part: DK Metcalf caught 7 balls for 269 yards and all 3 of those touchdown throws, which means Rodgers' entire scoring output came through one receiver in a 29-23 win. Bo Nix went 28 of 45 for 348 yards and 2 touchdowns against 1 interception for Denver, and the Broncos actually won the ground game 101 to 58, but the air game—405 to 348—decided it. Pittsburgh improved to 2-2, Denver stayed at 1-3, and somehow both teams called almost identical pass rates at 65 and 63 percent respectively, yet the Steelers' passing yards came from a narrower distribution.

Riley Parker The chaos merchant
THE WIDER PICTURE
Team SRS SOS MARGIN TO +/-
Steelers +7.2 +10.2 -3.0 +2
Broncos +3.1 +6.3 -3.2 +4
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
Daniel Keller The numbers guy
Denver's run game kept it close—101 yards to Pittsburgh's 58—but couldn't matter when Metcalf caught 3 touchdowns and 269 yards; Nix threw for 348 and didn't have enough help.
Jaylen Rivers The insider · replying
Nix had his best day yet and still lost—that's the Denver problem in one result. When your quarterback breaks through and your receiver's best game of the season isn't enough, you're not built to win close ones.
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.
Aaron Rodgers
Steelers
25/39, 405 yards, 3 TD
Bo Nix
Broncos
28/45, 348 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
DK Metcalf
Steelers
7 catches, 269 yards, 3 TD
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
Through the air Steelers 405, Broncos 348 Steelers
On the ground Broncos 101, Steelers 58 Broncos
Total yards Steelers 463, Broncos 449 Steelers
Pressure Broncos 4 sacks, Steelers 3 Broncos
THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.
📺 THE WEEK 4 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show
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 72% · Rush 28% · 24.5 scored, 27.5 allowed
10.1 yds/att 52.8% completions 2.1 yds/carry 288.8 yds/game 2.0 giveaways/game 8.6% sack rate last 4: 2-2
Primary weapon: DK Metcalf WR — 52% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY VERY HIGH
SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 56 · Aggressive Balance 53 Ball security 44 Back usage 24% QB runs 1.2/game
Most exposed: one-man passing game -- DK Metcalf takes 52% of the receiving yards
PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 99 WR 87 TE 80 RB 84 OL 81 DL 94 LB 76 DB 87
Best: Cam Heyward DT 99 Fastest: Eric Singleton Jr. WR 95 SPD 14 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.
HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
jj
Broncos · his last 5 games
Balanced
Pass / run57% / 43% Points for / against23.8 — 27.0 Margin-3.2 Giveaways a game1.8 Sacks taken5.0% of dropbacks Lead backRJ Harvey · 15.0/g Top targetCourtland Sutton · 26% QB carries2.6 a game
Steelers
Steelers · his last 4 games
Throws it Gives it away One target
Pass / run72% / 28% Points for / against24.5 — 27.5 Margin-3.0 Giveaways a game2.0 Sacks taken8.6% of dropbacks Lead backCaden Durham · 6.0/g Top targetDK Metcalf · 52% QB carries0.5 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
THE SERIES Steelers against jj — the men, not the teams
Steelers leads it 1-0. Steelers won the last one.
1 meeting avg 29.0 — 23.0 biggest: 6 pts to Steelers
S2 · week 4 Steelers 29 — 23 jj STEELERS
Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Steelers receivers vs Broncos secondary 87 v 88 EVEN
Broncos receivers vs Steelers secondary 88 v 87 EVEN
Steelers line vs Broncos front 81 v 87 BRONCOS
Broncos line vs Steelers front 87 v 94 STEELERS
Steelers backs vs Broncos run defence 84 v 83 EVEN
Broncos backs vs Steelers run defence 82 v 87 STEELERS
Steelers passer vs Broncos secondary 99 v 88 STEELERS
Broncos passer vs Steelers secondary 87 v 87 EVEN
TOP PERFORMERS
Aaron Rodgers QB Steelers 405 pass yds
Bo Nix QB Broncos 348 pass yds
DK Metcalf WR Steelers 269 rec yds
Courtland Sutton WR Broncos 112 rec yds
Jaylen Waddle WR Broncos 70 rec yds
Eric Singleton Jr. WR Steelers 61 rec yds
Evan Engram TE Broncos 60 rec yds
RJ Harvey HB Broncos 59 rush yds
T.J. Watt LEDG Steelers 1.5 sacks
Nik Bonitto REDG Broncos 2 sacks
🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
STEELERS
PLAYER C/ATTYDSTDINTSCKLNGRTG
Aaron Rodgers QB 25/3940530493124.4
BRONCOS
PLAYER C/ATTYDSTDINTSCKLNGRTG
Bo Nix QB 28/453482137691.7
RECENT FORM
Steelers
W 41–21 vs Rams WK 3
L 14–35 vs Patriots WK 2
L 14–31 vs Raiders WK 1
Broncos
L 14–16 vs Chargers WK 3
L 16–41 vs Chiefs WK 2
W 38–28 vs Chargers WK 1
TEAM STATS
Steelers Broncos
463 TOTAL YARDS 449
405 PASSING YARDS 348
58 RUSHING YARDS 101
4 SACKS ALLOWED 3
3 SACKS MADE 4
1 GIVEAWAYS 1
1 TAKEAWAYS 1

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.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
1 STEELERS — 0 BRONCOS
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