Steelers Acrisure Stadium among Tops in NFL for Scoring

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a lot more well-known for their suffocating and sometimes violent defense than they are as a purveyor of high-flying offensive football, so the result of a recent study of which NFL stadiums see the most offense might be surprising.

Acrisure Stadium, the Steelers’ home on the North Shore, has seen the 10th-most points scored above expectations in the NFL over the last 10 seasons, according to a study by Bet Pennsylvania.

The study used the over/under gambling line to set a base, and the games at Acrisure have gone over the total 51.2% of the time since 2013, with 42 overs, 40 unders and one push.

That the Steelers’ home stadium was able to produce that many points despite its open-air environment, natural grass playing surface, northern climate, the Steelers’ admitted focus on defense and running the ball is certainly surprising.

The top stadiums were all indoor venues, with Ford Field in Detroit (59.2%), Caesars Superdome in New Orleans (55.3%) and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (54.7%) holding down the top three spots and the Minnesota Vikings’ home, U.S. Bank Stadium, coming in sixth.

Of the outdoor stadia, only No. 4 Nissan Stadium in Nashville (53.75%) had a higher percentage of overs hit of stadiums with natural grass playing surfaces. The Tennessee Titans just changed that stadium over from grass to turf for 2023.

The rest of the Top 10 featured the Cincinnati Bengals’ Paycor Stadium at No. 6 (53%), Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium at No. 8 (51.9%) and New England’s Gillette Stadium at No. 9 (51.65%).

Could it be that the Steelers’ reputation for strong defense is bringing down the total, leading to easy overs to hit? Or has the offense-reducing powers of the grass, outfield field been overstated?

Why do you think Acrisure Stadium has leaned toward offense in the last 10 years?