Pittsburgh is looking for consecutive wins for the first time this season

REDSKINS (3-4) AT STEELERS (3-3)

By Football Night in America’s Eliott Kalb

• The Steelers are coming off a big 24-17 divisional road win over the Bengals in which they scored 21 of the game’s final 24 points.
• Pittsburgh is looking for consecutive wins for the first time since winning their final two regular season games to end last season.
• The Redskins are coming off a disappointing 27-23 divisional road loss in which they blew a 23-20 lead allowing a 77-yard pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz.
• Each of the Redskins’ four losses this season has come by seven points or less.
• The Redskins offense is arguably the most dynamic in the NFL.  They can play fast with RG III spreading the field and creating big plays or they can play slow, grinding out yards with Alfred Morris.  Last week’s game vs. the Giants is a perfect example.  The ‘Skins put together a 17-play drive in the first quarter spanning 93 yards, while chewing up 9:11 on the clock ending in a 20-yard field goal.  Late in the fourth quarter, RG III put together a seven-play, 77-yard touchdown drive that took just 1:27 off the clock!
• Robert Griffin III leads all NFL quarterbacks in completion percentage (70.4) and yards per attempt (8.47).  He’s accounted for 13 touchdowns (seven passing, six rush) while turning the ball over just five times (three INT, two fumbles lost).
• Alfred Morris, a rookie sixth-round pick from Florida Altantic, leads the NFC with 658 rushing yards and is second in the NFL, trailing only Arian Foster (659) through seven weeks.  Morris has caused more missed tackles (21) than any running back in the NFL besides Marshawn Lynch (27) and Adrian Peterson (23).
• This week, the Redskins offense will be going against a Steelers defense that is second in the NFL to the 49ers (272.3), allowing just 277.3 yards per game.
• Ben Roethlisberger has been rumored to have a frosty relationship with offensive coordinator Todd Haley.  Last week, Roethlisberger referred to Haley’s offense has a “dink-and-dunk offense.”  Last season, Roethlisberger’s average pass traveled 9.1 yards downfield.  This year, that figure is down to 7.5, 25^th in the NFL.
• It’ll be interesting to see if the Steelers take more shots down the field this week vs. the Redskins who have surrendered 7 pass plays of 40-yards or more, tied for most in the NFL.
• Roethlisberger has won 14 of 15 career home starts vs. NFC opponents including 6 in a row.
• The Redskins are the only team against whom Roethlisberger has never thrown a touchdown pass.  He’s 2-0 against Washington with their last meeting coming in ’08 but his 37.8 completion percentage (14 of 37) is his worst vs. any team.
• Washington hasn’t defeated Pittsburgh since 1991, their last Super Bowl-winning season.  The Redskins have lost four in a row to the Steelers while being outscored 77-29.
• With Fred Davis (Achilles) out for the season, the Redskins re-signed Chris Cooley early this week whom they cut at the end of the preseason.  Cooley, the franchise leader in catches by a tight end, could play Sunday in Pittsburgh.
• With the Steelers and Pitt playing at Heinz Field and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performing at Consol Engery Center, the Expedia travel website showed that 117 of the 118 hotels in Pittsburgh were sold out for Saturday night.
• The Steelers will be wearing Nike’s newly designed throwback uniform dating back to their 1934 season when they were known as the Pirates.  Jamison Hensley of ESPN wrote: “When you first set eyes on them, you’ll understand why they were retired…or burned.”