NFL Week 2: A statistical review of Monday Night Football

The New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers emerged victorious from the Week 2 Monday Night Football doubleheader. Here is our initial statistical review of the two games.

New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers

Game Summary

According to our new noise-canceled score metric, the game was much closer than it should have been, as the Saints were much more successful at moving the ball. New Orleans simply couldn’t put the ball over the goal line in the first half.

Passing summary

Neither passing offense was really efficient, mainly because the defensive fronts dominated the passing game. Both Bryce Young and Derek Carr each got sacked four times.

Receiving summary

The Saints have lacked options in the receiving room in recent years, but the trio of a healthy Michael Thomas, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed shapes up to change that in 2023.

The Panthers, however, are dearly missing strong receiving options for Bryce Young. The combination of a weak receiving room and a struggling offensive line has produced an inefficient offense that can hardly push the ball downfield.

Rushing summary

Unlike the Panthers, the Saints ran the ball often and successfully, a big part of why they were ultimately the much better team on Monday Night.

Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Game Summary

The Steelers scored 26 points without snapping the ball inside the Browns' 30-yard line. That’s what two defensive scores and a long touchdown run after the catch do for you.

The Browns offense wasn’t especially good either, but Cleveland moved the ball just well enough to win a low-scoring game if not for the two costly mistakes on offense.