Week 7 will mark the first ever NFL game in Paris, France when the New Orleans Saints take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Saints enter this game with a 2-4 record and fresh off a win at the New York Giants. Pittsburgh counters with a 4-2 mark, winners of two straight and three of their last four. The Saints have had some major struggles on defense, surprising for a unit that ranked 9th overall in 2025 but a lowly 29th so far this season. Many of the New Orleans issues have come against the run, where they'll now face a Steelers offense that is 21st overall but a capable if unspectacular unit. Let's have a look at this aspect of Sunday's matchup.
Pittsburgh Steelers Running Game
- 99.2 yards per game (20th)
- 4.6 per carry (8th)
- 1 touchdown (32nd)
In the first year under new head coach Mike McCarthy, we've seen an uncharacteristically unbalanced
Pittsburgh offense. Only four teams have fewer rushing attempts than the Steelers, who as a partial result rank 28th in third down efficiency and in the bottom half of the league in red-zone percentage. Perhaps part of the reason for the pass-heavy scheme is a three-game injury absence to running back Rico Dowdle, who returned to the lineup last week. Dowdle was a 1,000-yard rusher with McCarthy in Dallas in 2024 and again for the Panthers last season.
While the underrated Dowdle is an underrated talent, he wasn't even Pittsburgh's featured back when healthy. Those duties go to Jaylen Warren, who has 460 rushing yards and a 5.5 average. Warren had a career-best 958 yards on the ground in 2025, his fourth season. He's a capable inside runner but is most dangerous off-tackle and in space. Warren has Pittsburgh's only 2026 rushing score, a 50-yard burst against Indianapolis. In that same game, he also took screen pass for an 80-yard score.
Freeing Warren and Dowdle on the edge has been accomplished pretty well by the Steelers offensive line. Where Pittsburgh's front has struggled is in short yardage situations, where the team has one of the NFL's worst rushing conversion rates. As a result, the Steelers will often forgo the run in favor an Aaron Rodgers pass attempt.
New Orleans Saints Run Defense
- 138 yards per game (30th)
- 4.8 per carry (28th)
- 11 touchdowns (32nd)
- 24 tackles for loss
New Orleans has surrendered over 150 rushing yards in three games this year and have held only one opponent to fewer than 110 on the ground. Fortunately, that one was last week in a victory over the Giants. This Sunday, the Saints may again be thinner than usual on the defensive line if Nathan Shepherd misses his third straight outing with an illness.
An already thin group, New Orleans has been routinely pushed around with ease in the trenches. There are signs of optimism, with rookie second round nose tackle Christen Miller playing better each week and more productive snaps coming from Colby Wooden. This unit still needs better from them along with Vernon Broughton and Davon Godchaux up front. Defensive tackle Khristian Boyd has also flashed encouraging signs, but gets little playing time from coordinator Brandon Staley. A result of the poor line play is having to play legendary veteran Cameron Jordan mostly in a down linemen spot. It's been Jordan's natural position most of his career, but he excelled more as a stand-up rusher last season.
New Orleans gets a huge boost defensively with the return of Kaden Elliss at linebacker. Elliss is not only the team's best run defender, but also the unit's play-caller. He's missed the last three games with a calf injury and gives the defense a solid sideline-to-sideline defender. His return should hopefully help linebackers Danny Stutsman and Pete Werner focus on playing downhill and more within the tackle box. Both are physical players, particularly Stutsman, but tend to be a step slow to the edge with both struggling in open space.
Cameron Jordan and Chase Young are solid defenders against the run on the edge, but that's not a strength of Carl Granderson. Opponents have had success running at Granderson. Better outside flow from the linebackers and more aggression from a capable secondary can offset this. Safeties Justin Reid and Jonas Sanker, along with Julian Blackmon when he also cheats up, will have to cut runners down quicker when they get off-tackle to minimize gains.
Last week against the Giants, New Orleans was able to get stalemates in the middle to clog rushing lanes. That allowed Stutsman and Werner to shoot through gaps to make the plays to hold New York to just 84 rushing yards. The Saints need to do exactly the same in Paris. It'll be a challenge because Jaylen Warren is so explosive on off-tackle runs, making the return of Elliss that much more crucial. For Elliss and Stutsman to be most effective, the Saints must be able to shut off inside running lanes and get backfield penetration. Early success doing so should lead McCarthy to all but abandon the run and make a limited Steelers attack one-dimensional, as they've been prone to do most of the year.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints run defense must continue recent momentum facing Steelers
