Seven for seven
The matchup with Manning in 2004 was the last time the Steelers faced a No. 1 overall pick as a rookie. Since then, they have faced a rookie quarterback who was a first-round selection seven times, winning all seven.
Three of those were against Baltimore’s Joe Flacco in the 2008 season when the Steelers beat the Ravens twice during the regular season and again in the AFC Championship when they won their most recent Super Bowl.
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Wentz will be third rookie quarterback who was a No. 2 overall selection, joining RG3 and Seattle’s Rick Mirer, who beat them in 1993, 16-6. After evaluating him before the draft, Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley thought Wentz should have been the No. 1 overall selection.
“I had him clearly the best,” Haley said. “He was in a pro-style offense, [doing] a lot of under-center stuff, which you don’t get to see a whole bunch of these days. The thing that stood out was his understanding of the game. They put a lot on his shoulders in college and you saw him operate every play,
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lot of that. When you see a young guy doing that, it’s an advantage.”
Today will mark the 15th time the Steelers will face a rookie quarterback who was a first-round pick. The Steelers are 10-4 in those games, going back to that day they lost to Elway and Broncos in 1983.
“It doesn’t matter what we’ve done before or what they’ve done before,” said defensive coordinator Keith Butler. “It only matters what we do on Sunday. What’s happened before here, what’s going to happen in the future, we’ll see. I’m not going to make any predictions that we’ll fool him or anything like that.”
It’s been a 33-year case study for the Steelers. And it began with John Elway.