Statistics can lie, too.
How else to explain yesterday’s display against the woeful Jets by the Steelers’ supposedly vaunted defense?
Pittsburgh came in with a rare NFL superfecta: first in the league in scoring defense, first in total defense, first in rushing defense and first in pass defense. Combine that with the foe, a 1-8 Jets team led by an inexperienced quarterback, and the stage appeared set for a day-long Steel Curtain call.
Uh, scratch that.
A Jets offense ranked at or near the bottom in virtually every category somehow turned the Steelers’ defensive numbers on their ear both early and late in a shocking, 19-16 overtime upset.
By the time the dust settled, the Steelers had given up their first 100-yard rusher since the 2005 season (a span of 35 games) and were at a loss to explain the completely unexpected.
“Definitely a subpar performance for us,” first-year coach Mike Tomlin said. “You win together and you stink it up together, and stinking it up is what happened today.”
The Jets made the Steelers look bad virtually from the outset, badly burning them with a 56-yard flea flicker pass from Kellen Clemens to Laveranues Coles to the Pittsburgh 1 on the second play of the game.
The Steelers trailed 7-0 before many of the crowd – dominated by an estimated 35,000 Terrible Towel-waving Pittsburgh fans – had settled into their seats, and it proved to be a sign of things to come.
By intermission, the Jets had a 13-7 lead and nearly 200 yards in total offense. That might not sound earth-shattering, but it was downright seismic considering the Steelers’ defensive credentials.
The Jets also were doing much of it on the ground. Jones rumbled 11 yards on the game’s first play, and the Jets had an eye-popping 79 rushing yards overall – seven above the Steelers’ season average allowed – by halftime.
Thomas overall ran 30 times for 117 yards, which the Steelers credited to their own bad tackling and excellent Jets scheming. The Jets didn’t dress a fullback, instead spreading out the Steelers with multiple-receiver formations so Jones could run mostly against smaller defensive backs.
“That was their game plan – get their smaller guys out there and run the ball on us,” nose tackle Casey Hampton said.
Pittsburgh appeared to collect itself defensively in the second half, limiting the Jets to just 16 total yards in the third quarter and rallying for the lead.
But after intercepting Clemens and forcing a turnover on downs late in the fourth, the Steelers’ defense inexplicably collapsed again. Pittsburgh let Clemens march the Jets 86 yards for the overtime-forcing field goal, then failed to come up with a big play in the extra session.
“We missed more tackles than I’ve ever seen us miss,” Tomlin said. “That’s the story.”
bhubbuch@nypost.com