Cheese Curds, 11/9: Packers and Steelers are both struggling before halftime

When the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers face off on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, the players on both sides could be forgiven if they feel like they’re seeing a mirror image of themselves on the other sideline. An interesting trend heading into this game is how the two teams have performed before and after halftime, as they are among the NFL’s slowest-starting teams this season.

The Packers’ first-half struggles have been well-documented here and elsewhere, but let’s look at how the two teams compare.

In the first half, the Packers have scored three touchdowns this season; the Steelers have four. Green Bay has an average net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of 3.9 and a passer rating of 67.0 before the half, while the Steelers’ ANY/A number is 4.3 with a passer rating of 66.9.

Both teams see all of these numbers increase dramatically after the half as well. The Packers’ offense has put up 14 touchdowns, an ANY/A of 7.2, and a passer rating of 93.1 in the second half, while Pittsburgh has just seven scores, a 6.4 ANY/A, and an 88.7 passer rating.

Those numbers suggest that both teams will likely get off to slow starts again on Sunday, and that the first half should be a pretty uneventful one. Tune in on Sunday at noon central time to see if that bears itself out.

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