The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to secure a win in Paris, France on Sunday 16-10, as the team took down the New Orleans Saints in Week 7. This brought Pittsburgh to 5-2 on the year, and the team is the first in the AFC North to get to five wins on the season. This was a big win for the Steelers as the group was able to win its third contest in a row, and Pittsburgh is firmly in contention in the AFC North with a big game against the Cleveland Browns coming up in Week 8.
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Steelers' Mike McCarthy on the sideline before a game against the Saints in Paris during the 2026 season.
The final score in the win over New Orleans was 16-10, and the Steelers were only able to find the end zone once in the victory. The team relied heavily on the leg of Chris Boswell, which has become a common occurrence over the last decade or so. The kicker went three for three on field goals on the day with a long of 47 yards. He also made a fourth field goal near the end of the game that would have put Pittsburgh up nine points, but the Saints jumped offsides and the Steelers were able to kneel the ball to run out the clock.
It was certainly an ugly win for the Steelers, but it was still a big one. The offense struggled to punch the ball into the end zone, and Head Coach Mike McCarthy was critical of that during his postgame press conference. He was asked about the red zone struggles, as the Steelers only scored a touchdown on one of the team's four red zone trips in the game.
"Yeah, one in four is not where you want to be clearly," McCarthy said. "No doubt about it. We wanted to, you know, take control of the clock. They do a really good job there in New Orleans on offense. But yeah, we definitely want to score touchdowns down there. It's always good to win and have things to work on."
Ideally the Steelers would be able to score a touchdown every time the team finds the red zone, but that was clearly not the case on Sunday. If Pittsburgh had lost the game it would have been a major point of contention, but the outcome was good so it is viewed as a positive to have something like that to work on while getting a win.
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Steelers' Mike McCarthy coaching during a Week 2 loss to the New England Patriots in 2026.
A lot was made of the Steelers waiting to travel to Paris until after practice on Thursday, and fans and media personalities were worried about the team being a bit sluggish while trying to adjust to the time change. That could have been a factor when it comes to the struggles in the red zone. It is also worth noting that the Steelers were really one for three in the red zone, not one for four. The fourth possession was the last possession of the game, and the Steelers chose to kneel the ball out as mentioned, rather than going for points. The numbers are a bit skewed due to that, but the problem was still evident throughout the game.
Steelers' Red Zone Problems Have Been Evident All Season Long
The Steelers struggling to score touchdowns in the red zone didn't start to become a problem against the Saints. It has been an issue all season long. Coming into this game, the Steelers were only scoring touchdowns at a 53 percent clip when reaching the red zone. That is 19th in the NFL, and after Sunday's game the team will rank even worse. On the bright side, the defense for Pittsburgh holds opponents to a 50 percent conversion rate when opposing offenses reach the end zone. That ranks seventh in the NFL, so the defense is able to make up for the offense's shortcomings a little bit.
What do you think about McCarthy's comments on the offense struggling in the red zone? What does the offense need to do to get better? Let me know on X, @brogannoey!
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