Aaron Rodgers And The Pittsburgh Steelers Left Paris Far From Perfect, But This Messy Win May Be Exactly What They Needed

How the Steelers’ run game saved a sloppy Paris night for Aaron Rodgers© Getty via AFP

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New Orleans Saints 16-10 on Sunday at Stade de France in the NFL's first regular-season game in France. It was not clean. Pittsburgh scored one touchdown, leaned on Jaylen Warren's 101 rushing yards, needed a fire-drill field goal to lead at halftime, and got help from a Saints offside penalty late. Aaron Rodgers threw his 540th career touchdown pass and moved alone into third on the all-time list, past Peyton Manning. The win was the Steelers' third straight and lifted them to 5-2. The Saints fell to 2-5.

Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers won Paris without looking perfect

The box score explains why this never felt comfortable. Rodgers finished 19 of 30 for 212 yards with no interceptions, but drives kept dying before the end zone. Chris Boswell kicked three field goals. The lone touchdown came in the second quarter on a four-yard pass to Darnell Washington, capping a 77-yard drive that took six plays after the Saints had tied it at 3-3. Washington is 6-foot-7. Kool-Aid McKinstry, the cornerback covering him, is 5-foot-11. That gap gave Rodgers touchdown number 540 and a 10-3 lead.

New Orleans tied it at 10-10 when Tyler Shough hit Devaughn Vele from a yard out on fourth-and-goal.

The first half nearly ended in a mess. Rodgers was sacked on third down with roughly 15 seconds left and no timeouts. Pittsburgh still got a field goal off as time expired and went to the locker room up 13-10. It worked, though that is not a plan anyone wants to lean on.

Rodgers did leave one reminder late. He scrambled for a key first down in the fourth quarter.

The ground game and defense carried Pittsburgh

The real story was up front. Pittsburgh outran New Orleans 148 yards to 18. Warren carried 18 times for 101 yards, and Rico Dowdle added 41 on nine attempts. The Steelers also converted 10 of 16 third downs, which kept Shough and the Saints offense watching from the sideline.

That matters for a team whose passing game never really opened up. Rodgers worked mostly short, averaging 6.6 air yards per attempt. The one big shot was a 51-yard throw to D.K. Metcalf, and it set up the touchdown to Washington. After that, the offense struggled to finish drives.

Shough kept the Saints in it, and Vele caught five passes for 54 yards. But New Orleans could not run the ball at all.

The Saints had their openings. Daniel Carlson missed a 52-yard field goal wide right.

Late in the fourth quarter, a Saints offside penalty handed Pittsburgh a fresh set of downs, and the Steelers took a couple of knees to finish it.

Pittsburgh is 5-2 and at least tied for first in the AFC North going into Week 8. Cleveland is next, and finishing drives is the obvious fix.