WEEK 15 · FINAL
THE READ
Steelers win the turnover battle and the game
Steelers took the ball away and took the game with it, 24-17. Justin Herbert threw for Chargers — 33/56, 270 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT — in a losing effort. Drew Allar was steady for Steelers — 17/33, 250 yards, 1 TD. On the ground: Steelers 86, Chargers 36.
The Wire · league beat
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelers | -3.0 | +2.0 | -5.0 | +4 |
| Chargers | -5.0 | +2.7 | -7.7 | -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
Talia Morgan
Beat reporter
Chargers beat themselves. Two turnovers against a Steelers team that didn't have one, and a non-existent rushing attack—36 yards on the ground—left Los Angeles short despite Herbert's 2 TD passes and McConkey hauling in 10 catches for 125 yards.
Jeff Epstein
The showman
· replying
Pittsburgh's defense didn't have to do much—the Chargers' 36 rushing yards meant Los Angeles was playing with one hand tied, and the Steelers simply didn't drop it.
Zoe Bell
The contrarian
· replying
Herbert threw for 270 and 2 touchdowns on a day when the Chargers abandoned any pretense of running the ball—76% pass rate into a Pittsburgh defense that didn't have to account for ground threat. At some point you have to ask whether Los Angeles is calling plays or just reacting to what isn't working.
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.
Justin Herbert
Chargers
33/56, 270 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Drew Allar
Steelers
17/33, 250 yards, 1 TD
Ladd McConkey
Chargers
10 catches, 125 yards
WHAT DECIDED IT
On the ground
Steelers 86, Chargers 36
Steelers
Total yards
Steelers 336, Chargers 306
Steelers
Through the air
Chargers 270, Steelers 250
Chargers
Giveaways
Chargers 2, Steelers 0
Steelers
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 62% · Rush 38% · 23.1 scored, 28.1 allowed
7.9 yds/att
56.2% completions
4.4 yds/carry
352.4 yds/game
1.3 giveaways/game
7.6% sack rate
last 5: 2-3
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 54 · Efficient
Balance 88
Ball security 64
Back usage 31%
QB runs 3.4/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 89
WR 87
TE 88
RB 86
OL 81
DL 88
LB 81
DB 86
Best: T.J. Watt LEDG 93
Fastest: KaVontae Turpin 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.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 70% · Rush 30% · 27.4 scored, 35.1 allowed
9.2 yds/att
62.7% completions
4.0 yds/carry
362.6 yds/game
1.9 giveaways/game
7.9% sack rate
last 5: 1-4
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 69 · Aggressive
Balance 80
Ball security 48
Back usage 26%
QB runs 2.0/game
Most exposed: ball security -- 1.9 giveaways a game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 92
WR 88
TE 80
RB 85
OL 86
DL 84
LB 80
DB 86
Best: Derwin James Jr SS 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.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
SD
Chargers · his last 8 games
Throws it
One target
Pass / run67% / 33%
Points for / against29.5 — 34.6
Margin-5.1
Giveaways a game1.4
Sacks taken5.0% of dropbacks
Lead backKeaton Mitchell · 11.5/g
Top targetQuentin Johnston · 41%
QB carries2.5 a game
talabandrell
Steelers · his last 8 games
Balanced
Pass / run57% / 43%
Points for / against21.1 — 25.9
Margin-4.8
Giveaways a game1.2
Sacks taken8.0% of dropbacks
Lead backTrey Benson · 13.1/g
Top targetGermie Bernard · 31%
QB carries3.1 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
talabandrell against SD — the men, not the teams
talabandrell leads it 1-0.
talabandrell won the last one.
1 meeting
avg 24.0 — 17.0
biggest: 7 pts to talabandrell
S2 · week 15
talabandrell 24 — 17 SD
TALABANDRELL
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 Chargers secondary
87 v 86
EVEN
Chargers receivers vs Steelers secondary
88 v 86
EVEN
Steelers line vs Chargers front
81 v 84
CHARGERS
Chargers line vs Steelers front
86 v 88
EVEN
Steelers backs vs Chargers run defence
86 v 83
STEELERS
Chargers backs vs Steelers run defence
85 v 85
EVEN
Steelers passer vs Chargers secondary
89 v 86
STEELERS
Chargers passer vs Steelers secondary
92 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Allar QB | 17/33 | 250 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 86.6 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Herbert QB | 33/56 | 270 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 75.7 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trey Benson HB | 17 | 62 | 3.6 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 21 | 0 |
| Omari Evans WR | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| Raleek Brown HB | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Drew Allar QB | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Cam Coleman WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keaton Mitchell HB | 13 | 31 | 2.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Justin Herbert QB | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Kimani Vidal HB | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Oronde Gadsden TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ladd McConkey WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germie Bernard WR | 6 | 100 | 16.7 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 25 |
| Omari Evans WR | 4 | 54 | 13.5 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 27 |
| Cam Coleman WR | 3 | 46 | 15.3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 23 |
| Parker Washington WR | 1 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Terrance Carter Jr TE | 1 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 |
| Michael Pittman TE | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Trey Benson HB | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladd McConkey WR | 10 | 125 | 12.5 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 23 |
| Quentin Johnston WR | 9 | 55 | 6.1 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 12 |
| Brenen Thompson WR | 4 | 33 | 8.2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Mack Hollins TE | 4 | 30 | 7.5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| Oronde Gadsden TE | 3 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 9 |
| Kimani Vidal HB | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 9 |
| Keaton Mitchell HB | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Spears-Jennings FS | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Jamel Dean FS | 8 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Christian Harris SAM | 6 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Joey Porter CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Nick Herbig DT | 5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T.J. Watt LEDG | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cam Taylor-Britt CB | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Joey Bosa REDG | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Patrick Queen MIKE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jermaine Mathews Jr CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Daylen Everette CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Alex Highsmith REDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Riley Moss SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarheeb Still CB | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Daiyan Henley MIKE | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Tuli Tuipulotu DT | 5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VJ Payne FS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Jones CB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Akheem Mesidor REDG | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nick Barrett DT | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decamerion Richardson CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Colin Simmons LEDG | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kip Lewis WILL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marte Mapu SAM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Derwin James Jr SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
STEELERS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Boswell K | 1/1 | 3/3 | 53 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Dicker K | 1/1 | 2/2 | 45 |
RECENT FORM
Steelers
L
9–27 vs Texans
WK 14
L
14–36 vs Seahawks
WK 13
L
23–28 vs 49ers
WK 12
Chargers
L
17–20 vs Broncos
WK 14
L
39–46 vs Vikings
WK 13
L
21–31 vs Packers
WK 12
TEAM STATS
| Steelers | Chargers | |
|---|---|---|
| 336 | TOTAL YARDS | 306 |
| 250 | PASSING YARDS | 270 |
| 86 | RUSHING YARDS | 36 |
| 2 | SACKS ALLOWED | 3 |
| 3 | SACKS MADE | 2 |
| 0 | GIVEAWAYS | 2 |
| 2 | TAKEAWAYS | 0 |
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
CHARGERS