The Steelers’ trip to Paris is finally here, and it brings a matchup that looks tight on paper. Pittsburgh and New Orleans meet Sunday at Stade De France in Week 7, with the Steelers sitting at 4-2 and the Saints at 2-4.
Kickoff is set for Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The game will be played on natural grass, with sunny weather, temperatures around 58 degrees and winds up to 18 mph. Pittsburgh is listed as a 3.5-point favorite, with the over/under set at 44.5.
Both clubs are coming off wins. The Saints went to New York and beat the Giants 34-27, while the Steelers rallied in Tampa and won 26-19 in overtime against the Bucs.
NFL Network will carry the game with Dave Pasch, Kurt Warner, Jason Kelce and Molly McGrath on the call. On the radio side, the Steelers Audio Network will feature Rob King, Max Starks and Missi Matthews, while Westwood One’s broadcast team will be Oliver Wilson and Christian Scotland-Williamson.
Bill Vinovich will serve as the head official. He’s in his 18th season in that role, and his last Steelers assignment came in November of 2025 against the Bengals, when both teams were flagged eight times in Pittsburgh’s 34-12 win.
The injury report has a few names to watch. For Pittsburgh, Rico Dowdle is questionable with a knee issue, Ben Skowronek is out with a calf injury, DeShon Elliott is questionable with a knee issue, and Brandin Echols is out with a hamstring injury.
On the Saints’ side, Cesar Ruiz is questionable with a knee injury, and Nathan Shepherd is questionable because of illness/rest. Elliott is in the 21-day return window from IR, and it’s widely expected he’ll be activated for Sunday.
In the league rankings, the Steelers hold the edge on defense and the Saints are near the bottom in several key areas. Pittsburgh is ninth in total defense, seventh against the pass and 14th against the run.
New Orleans is 29th in total defense, 26th against the pass and 30th against the run. Offensively, the two teams are close, with Pittsburgh 21st in total offense and New Orleans 20th.
The AFC North remains crowded. Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh are all 4-2, while Cincinnati is 3-2.
This week, Cleveland visits Tennessee at 1 p.m. ET and Cincinnati goes to Baltimore at 1 p.m.
ET.
A few other details stand out heading into this one. The Steelers are 4-1 on natural grass this season.
They are 1-1 in international regular-season games, and they are 3-1 this year when they lose the coin toss. Chris Boswell is now the all-time Steelers leader in made field goals, and assistant offensive line coach Jahri Evans brings a Saints connection after winning a Super Bowl with New Orleans in 2010.
Coach McCarthy’s record against the Saints sits at 3-5, and his overtime mark is 6-7-2. His teams are 104-12 when allowing 19 points or fewer.
The Saints’ players to know include quarterback Tyler Shough, running back Alvin Kamara, wide receiver Chris Olave, cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, defensive end Cam Jordan, linebacker Pete Werner, tight end Juwan Johnson and kicker Daniel Carlson.
The all-time series has been close, with New Orleans leading 9-8. The Saints also hold a 6-4 edge in home games, though this will be their first meeting at a neutral site. Their last matchup came in November 2022 in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers won 20-10.
This is not a postseason rivalry, but the regular-season numbers between the two teams have produced some big individual days for Pittsburgh. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 435 yards against New Orleans on November 30, 2014.
Willie Parker rushed for 213 yards on November 12, 2006. Antonio Brown had 185 receiving yards on December 23, 2018.
Mike Merriweather had 3.0 sacks on November 19, 1984, and Mel Blount, Dwayne Woodruff and Rod Woodson each posted two interceptions in separate games against the Saints.
For Pittsburgh to leave Paris with a win, the run game has to show up again. The offense needs to lean into Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle instead of drifting away from what worked on the ground. New Orleans has struggled against the run, so there’s no reason for Pittsburgh to get cute and abandon that edge.
The next piece is pressure. The Steelers got to Jalon Daniels five times last week, but that total was boosted by Jalen Ramsey and Nick Herbig making plays off the edge.
This week, with New Orleans’ line not exactly built to hold up, the pass rush needs to win more conventionally. T.J.
Watt, Alex Highsmith and the rest of that group have to create real damage without relying on gimmicks.
The other opening should come at tight end. With the Saints likely focused on D.K.
Metcalf and Germie Bernard after their double-digit catches last week, Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington could find space. Aaron Rodgers should be able to spot those chances if the run game and play-action are doing their part.
The key individual names are obvious. For Pittsburgh, T.J.
Watt is the X-factor. He opened the year with 4.5 sacks, but his impact has dipped since then.
Against a below-average Saints line, this is the kind of game where he has to matter again. For New Orleans, Chris Olave is the one to watch.
He has 15 more catches and 20 more targets than any other Saint, and if he doesn’t produce, it’s hard to see where the offense gets enough help around him.
As for the game itself, the expectation is for something messy and strange, which is often what international games deliver. The numbers suggest a higher-scoring contest, but the safer feel here is the opposite. The pick is for a lower-scoring game, with Chris Boswell providing the difference.
In Other News...
Steelers Could Have A Trade Deadline Opening They Rarely Get
With the Nov. 10 trade deadline approaching, the Steelers may be looking at a market they do not often get to shop in while sitting at 4-2. Around the league, a handful of struggling teams are shaping up as possible sellers, which matters in Pittsburgh because it could open a path to add help without having to wait for the offseason.
The teams most worth watching are the Chargers, Dolphins, Buccaneers and Titans, all of whom could be forced to listen if their seasons keep going the wrong way. For the Steelers, that creates an unusual opportunity to look at available talent across multiple positions, from wide receiver to the secondary, and see whether a move is there to be made before the deadline closes. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Fans Just Got Painful Validation On George Pickens
George Pickens has a familiar kind of spotlight on him again, and this time it comes with a direct public critique from Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer after Week 6. Schottenheimer took aim at Pickens effort as both a receiver and a run-game participant, a familiar complaint for anyone who watched his last chapter in Pittsburgh, where the talent was never really in question but the consistency and engagement sometimes were.
For Steelers fans, the validation stings because it points back to a theme they know well from Pickens time here: the flashes were obvious, but so were the stretches that left everyone wanting more. Pittsburgh saw enough of those uneven days to understand why the discussion keeps circling back to effort, and Schottenheimers public comments only reopen the question of whether the same issues will keep following Pickens wherever he goes. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Backfield Suddenly Puts More On Jaylen Warren In Paris
The Steelers headed into the week with a healthier look on one side of the ball, as T.J. Watt was back at full practice after initially popping up with a calf issue. His return is a good sign for Pittsburghs defense, especially with the game shifting to Paris and the team trying to settle in for a strange week of preparation overseas.
The bigger offensive wrinkle is in the backfield, where Rico Dowdle is listed as questionable because of a knee injury after already missing time with a toe issue. If he cannot go or is only part of the plan, the burden figures to land on Jaylen Warren, who would be asked to handle a much larger share of the work than usual in a game that could demand a lot from Pittsburghs run game. [Read more 🡒]