this stupid streak which is finally over was mostly correlation-not-causation. here’s the graphic from the game: LINK

here’s a breakdown of those records vs 16-game and 17-game schedule:

team games streak record 16game Wins 17game Wins
raiders 75 18-57 3.8 4
steelers 58 34-23-1 9.5 10.1
niners 55 22-33 6.4 6.8

here are some facts:

  • 34-23-1 translates to 0.596 winning pct.
  • during this 58 game stretch, the steelers held the opponent to under 400yds 41 times. that is, 71% of this stupid streak, BOTH teams were under 400 yds.
  • during this streak, the .596 pct ranks 9th of all teams.
  • and it ranks 1st among the AFC North in this time period.

here’s the AFC north winning % during this same 58 game streak:

team winning % 16game Wins 17game Wins
steelers 0.596 9.5 10.1
ravens 0.593 9.4 10.0
bengals 0.553 8.8 9.4
browns 0.551 8.8 9.3

yes, the steelers went 58 games in a row where they were sub-400yd

  • but during this stretch they were 9th in the NFL in wins
  • during this stretch they were 1st in the AFC north in wins

the media is bad at math.

  • DoubleUSportsMediaB
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    1 year ago

    All this says to me is that our defense was good enough to also hold them under 400 yards which gave us a chance to win. Add in the fact that over the last 3 years we’ve been pretty solid at getting turnovers (+28 differential) and in those years we’ve also allowed the 2nd lowest PPG at 20.7. Granted we scored 20.5 PPG in the same span.