1. No receivers, no problem?
The Pittsburgh Steelers are without their top two wide receivers for Sunday’s game at the Cleveland Browns. That is, of course, less than ideal. But if ever a situation allowed for success for a team that’s missing its top two WRs, it might be Sunday.
Start with the knowledge that the Steelers are the NFL’s least wide receiver-reliant team. A league-low 43.1% of their targets have gone to the position, according to Sharp Football Analysis data.
Only three teams (one is the Browns) have thrown more passes toward tight ends than the Steelers (135), and only one has thrown more often to running backs (114).
While DK Metcalf (suspended) and Calvin Austin III (hamstring injury) have combined for 147 targets and the rest of the Steelers WR corps has combined for just 43, consider that the Browns have been a defense that has limited opponents’ wide receiver production. According to pro-football-reference.com, no team has allowed fewer WR yards (1,629) or catches (128) than Cleveland. Interestingly, though, only seven teams have allowed more touchdowns to wide receivers (15).
The Steelers deploy three wide-receiver sets at the second-lowest rate in the league (35.7% of their offensive snaps). They are one of only 11 NFL teams that have not run even one snap this season with four wide receivers on the field (per Sumer Sports).
2. Thousand-plus times two
Steelers running back Kenneth Gainwell is 89 yards away from reaching 1,000 from scrimmage for the first time in his career. Combined with Jaylen Warren (1,128), the Steelers already are the only NFL team to have a pair of running backs surpass 900 scrimmage yards each this season.
While there are only five occasions in NFL history in which two running backs on the same team rushed for 1,000 or more yards — the 1976 Steelers, with Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, are one — a RB duo achieving 1,000 scrimmage yards is a little more common. Last season’s Detroit Lions — with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery — is the most recent example. The Chicago Bears have a RB pair on the Steelers’ heels: D’Andre Swift entered the weekend with 1,259 scrimmage yards and rookie Kyle Monangai 871.
The 2018 New Orleans Saints are the only team in NFL history to have two running backs surpass 1,500 yards from scrimmage: Alvin Karama had 1,554 and Mark Ingram 1,540.
3. Kenny gains well … on passes
Tying the prior two elements together is that Gainwell is so adept as serving as a de facto wide receiver. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Gainwell has run 97 routes when lined up as a WR this season (be it out wide, from the slot or in tight). Only two NFL running backs have done so more often.
The data states that 217 of Gainwell’s 410 receiving yards in 2025 have come in such situations when he’s lined up on the line of scrimmage. That’s the second most in the league among running backs behind Pro Bowler Bijan Robinson (250) of Atlanta.
Gainwell leads the Steelers in receptions (62), and the 71 targets his way account for 16.3% of the Steelers’ passes this season. Only Metcalf (22.4%) has a higher target share on the Steelers, and only four NFL running backs have had a more significant share of a given team’s targeted throws.
4. Great in past eight
The Steelers’ season-long defensive numbers rank among the lowest in the NFL. But over the past eight weeks (since a Nov. 2 game), by many measures the unit has been better than average, particularly against the pass.
It’s not exactly the Steel Curtain, but over their past eight games, the Steelers defense ranks 11th in completion percentage allowed (61.4%) and yards per pass attempt (6.6). Its opponent passer rating over the past eight games (83.6) would be the eighth best in the NFL over the course of the season. The 5.13 yards per play the Steelers have allowed since the calendar flipped to November also would be 11th for the season.