The Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Commanders game has turned out to be a way more intriguing matchup than it originally appeared when the 2024 NFL schedule was released. The (6-2) Steelers and (7-2) Commanders both enter the game in first place in their respective divisions, while the Commanders are a small home favorite. Both teams also made big trade deadline additions to strengthen their rosters, with the Commanders adding cornerback Marshon Lattimore and the Steelers adding wide receiver Mike Williams and edge rusher Preston Smith.
Washington’s strength is clearly in its offense, where the Commanders are averaging 29.2 points per game, which is the third-best mark in the league. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has been the driving force behind that success and immediately looks like a franchise quarterback who has completely transformed the entire organization. He has also not been slowed down by the rib injury that took him out of a game a couple of weeks ago, passing for 535 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions over the past two games. He has also added 87 yards on 16 carries running the football in those games.
As impressive as he has been, he might be getting his toughest challenge of the season on Sunday against a Pittsburgh defense that is No. 1 in the league in terms of points per game. The Steelers defense does not have as many sacks as in past years (only 19 through eight games), but they remain one of the league’s toughest teams to score against and one of the best at taking away the football.
Beanie called game 🙌@_sbx2 | More on https://t.co/XL7UQscxtd pic.twitter.com/7EV7hWO7Xo
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 30, 2024
From a historical perspective, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is 15-5 in his career coming off of bye weeks (as the Steelers are this week) and 26-5 all-time against rookie quarterbacks (which he is facing this week). Daniels, however, looks better than your run-of-the-mill rookie quarterback.
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(Photo of Jayden Daniels: Nick Wass / AP Photo)
