Steelers lead the NFL in perhaps the most disheartening statistic of all

We thought the Pittsburgh Steelers were a pretty bad football team through the first five weeks of the season, and here’s the proof. 

I can’t imagine that most fans thought the Pittsburgh Steelers would be this bad just five games into the 2022 season — especially considering their winnable games against teams like the Patriots, Browns, and Jets. Unfortunately, this was as rough of a start to a season as we could have anticipated, and the Steelers are fortunate they aren’t 0-5 right now.

What’s most disheartening is that the collection of their statistics shows that Pittsburgh might be the worst team in the league right now. Entering Week 6, they rank 30th in points per game, 28th in offensive yards, 30th in yards per play, 30th in yards allowed, and 25th in points allowed, via Team Rankings. They also have the 27th overall DVOA defense, according to advanced stats from Football Outsiders.

Despite all of these numbers that are hard to stomach, the Pittsburgh Steelers are leading the NFL in one of the most cringe-worthy categories of all: worst point differential in the NFL. According To NFL on CBS, the Steelers are -51 in point differential just five games into the season.

Obviously, most of this abysmal point differential can be accounted for during Pittsburgh’s Week 5 massacre against the Bills — a game in which they lost by 35 points. However, this game still counts, and it’s worth noting that Buffalo rested Josh Allen as well as several other starters, which could have made the score look even worse.

Why this Steelers stat is so concerning

A bit of simple math would show you that the Steelers are losing by just over 10 points per game, on average. The second-worst team in this department is the Commanders, who are losing by 7.6 points per game.

All five of the worst point differential teams have been pretty terrible so far, but the Steelers take the cake. What makes this so concerning is that their first four games of the 2022 season might have been the easiest stretch they will face all year. Though they were able to pull off the overtime win against the Bengals in Week 1 after a number of things went their way, they then went on to face quarterbacks like Mac Jones, Jacoby Brissett, and Zach Wilson (who returned to the field for the first time after a knee injury).

After getting pounded by quarterback Josh Allen, the Steelers still have a tough schedule. They will face Tom Brady and a red-hot Jalen Hurts in two of the next three weeks. Following the bye, Pittsburgh still has games again Joe Burrow, Derek Carr, and Deshaun Watson, as well as two games against Lamar Jackson.

I’m not saying that the Steelers can’t take a step forward or that they will be last in the NFL in point differential by the end of the season, but they do have one of the toughest remaining schedules, and unless they take a big step forward on both sides of the ball soon, they are going to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year.