Steelers vs. Saints Week 7: Aaron Rodgers Passes Peyton Manning on TD List as Pittsburgh Wins in Paris

Aaron Rodgers is 42 years old, and he knew exactly what a feet-first slide would cost him. On third-and-6 in New Orleans territory, with the two-minute warning approaching, he tucked it, took off for 8 yards and took the hit. "Sometimes you've got to suck it up and make a play for your guys," Rodgers said. That first down all but sealed it.

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New Orleans Saints 16-10 at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, the NFL's first regular-season game in France, in front of 78,488 fans on a Sunday morning back home (9:30 a.m. ET kickoff). Pittsburgh is 5-2 with three straight wins. New Orleans, the designated home team, fell to 2-5.

Ground Game, Paris Edition

Pittsburgh showed its hand on the very first drive. Jaylen Warren touched the ball early and often, the Steelers lined up an extra offensive lineman, and Chris Boswell's 28-yard field goal made him the first player to score points in an NFL game in France, per the Steelers.

The Saints eventually matched it with a Daniel Carlson field goal, and then Rodgers produced the throw of the day. He slid in the pocket and launched a 51-yard completion to DK Metcalf at the New Orleans 4. NFL France called it "quel caviar d'Aaron Rodgers," which is the most elegant way anyone has ever described a deep ball. Soon after, Rodgers found 6-foot-7, 265-pound tight end Darnell Washington in the end zone against 5-foot-11 cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry. That matchup went how you'd expect. 10-3.

New Orleans tied it with a 12-play drive capped by Tyler Shough's 1-yard touchdown pass to Devaughn Vele on fourth-and-goal. Then came a frantic finish to the half: Carl Granderson sacked Rodgers on third down, the clock was running with no timeouts left, and Boswell sprinted onto the field to bang through a 47-yarder as time expired. 13-10 Steelers at the break.

The Turning Point: Payton Wilson Reads the Script

The Saints took the second-half kickoff and played keep-away for 14 plays, 68 yards and 7:28. They reached the Pittsburgh 10. Shough looked for Chris Olave on a short out, and linebacker Payton Wilson jumped the route, picked it off and returned it 18 yards.

"I've repped that play, no lie, more than 20 times now," Wilson said. "Just gambling a little bit and undercutting it."

Seated next to him at the podium, Rodgers couldn't resist: "Did it help that you picked me off in practice on this very similar play this week?" Turns out the best scouting report was Rodgers' own practice interception.

It was Wilson's first interception of the season and the first red-zone pick Shough has thrown in his two-year career, according to the Steelers. Pittsburgh then bled 7:18 off the clock on a 14-play drive that ended with Boswell's 39-yarder with 14 seconds left in the third, and the scoring was done. Carlson missed from 52 in the fourth, Patrick Queen sacked Shough on a third down to force a punt, and Pittsburgh's last possession ate the final 5:52.

Star Performances: Warren, Wilson and the Old Man

Warren carried 18 times for 101 yards and added three catches for 36 more. Rico Dowdle chipped in 41 rushing yards and six catches for 45, and the Steelers' site says the pair combined for a season-high 223 yards from scrimmage. Mike McCarthy loved the throwback feel: "Anytime we can just line up and give you Jaylen and Rico all day, that's a good day for us."

Rodgers went 19 of 30 for 212 yards with no turnovers. His touchdown to Washington was the 540th of his career, moving him past Peyton Manning for third in NFL history. Per the Steelers, he is also now the first quarterback to win the first games played in two different countries: Ireland and France.

Queen led everyone with 10 tackles and the fourth-quarter sack, and Boswell went 3 for 3 on field goals. On the other side, Shough was efficient (30 of 38 for 278 yards and a touchdown), and Alvin Kamara caught seven passes, but the Saints' run game never left the hotel. Attrition didn't help: running back CJ Donaldson left in the first half and was ruled out, and safety Justin Reid was ruled out early in the second half.

Stats That Matter

• 148 to 18: Rushing yards, Pittsburgh vs. New Orleans. The Saints averaged 1.1 yards per carry.
• 10 of 16: Steelers on third down. The Saints were 6 of 12.
• 32:03: Pittsburgh's time of possession, built on 30 carries.
• 540: Career touchdown passes for Rodgers, now third all time.
• 1 of 4: Pittsburgh in the red zone, the one real flaw in an otherwise grown-up performance.

What It Means: The AFC North Gets Spicy

Pittsburgh is tied with Cleveland at 5-2 atop the AFC North, and the Browns visit Acrisure Stadium next Sunday before the Steelers' bye. The plot twist writes itself: the Browns handed Pittsburgh its last loss, 27-24, on Oct. 1. McCarthy called this stretch a four-game series after that defeat, and the Steelers have won the first three, the last two on the road. It was also their fourth one-score win of the season, per the team. "Momentum creates confidence and the confidence is how you win," McCarthy said.

New Orleans heads into its bye at 2-5, winless in four home games counting this one, with a rushing attack that has to be rebuilt over the break. "When you have a day like today, 17 runs for 18 yards, it's going to be hard to win football games doing that," Kellen Moore said. Shough explained the problem: "they know what's coming in certain situations and they're a good defense."

Closing Take: Le Grand Old Man

Paris got the full Steelers experience: a punishing run game, a defense that jumped a young quarterback's route, and a 42-year-old who scrambled like his knees had a different birth certificate. Even the travel plan worked. "We spent more time talking about sleep," McCarthy said of the week. And Rodgers, who called the French national anthem "gorgeous," had the perfect explanation for why his sideline erupted on that late run.

"I think because I am so much less athletic than I used to be, it actually fires up the guys even more."

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press and Steelers.com.