C Kendrick Green and RB Kalen Ballage pick up the late blitzer. RT Chuks Okorafor does a great job to flush OLB Von Miller (#58) downfield, and LT Dan Moore did the same with OLB Malik Reed (#59). Check out their positions when the tape freezes. Moore needs to stay anchored to Ben there; if he stays home he could lay a lick on Von Miller which would have freed Okorafor to switch off and handle Reed. Instead he tries to chase his guy over the top of the congestion, and NFL LT’s aren’t going to win too many foot races.
For some reason teams are still trying to block TJ Watt with TE’s; that’s not a varsity game plan. He makes TE Noah Fant look absolutely foolish here. TJ fakes outside to peel the TE away from the meat of the line, then threw an ELITE inside swim move on him to knife into the backfield and make the stop on RB Javonte Williams. I’m not sure Fant even touched TJ.
DE’s Dre’Mont Jones (#93) & Shelby Harris (#96) with a stunt here: instead of pushing the pocket straight back into the QB’s lap they cross over each other to create confusion for the protection. Green is just discarded with a strong left arm from Harris who is there to devour Ballage for a loss. Green knows he messed up, too.
The RT gets an early jump on this play – unlike Joe Haden on that blocked FG – but it’s not called. You need every advantage you can get when TJ Watt is lining up across from you. But this play is about DT Henry Mondeaux; look at that spin-o-rama he puts on the RG to get into the backfield and drop QB Teddy Bridgewater for a sack. Before you judge his celebration dance too harshly remember he’s a practice squad replacement; he doesn’t get to play under the lights too often.
This one is a positive play, but it didn’t have to be. Bridgewater gets it out at the last second but takes a shot from MLB Devin Bush. RB Melvin Gordon has a tough rep in pass pro here. The first time the tape freezes TJ Watt got free and Gordon raced over to support that side, even though they had an extra lineman over there to account for him. He sees Bush coming in late and tries to recalibrate but he can’t get back in position and his QB takes a shot.
This play was doomed from the start. Denver’s front got a heavy push and the Steelers were setting up to run block two-three yards behind their LOS. FB Derek Watt was flanking Ben opposite Harris who may have been able to break it out right if Watt goes out and seals the edge on CB Bryce Callahan (#29). But the play call was an inside run and Harris waited for a hole to open that never came, and he took a loss.
This pitch/reverse to Williams fooled a couple Steelers but Minkah wasn’t one of them. He read it the whole way and came down from his high safety position to make a hard-nosed backfield tackle. His face mask took a good divot out of the turf, too.
This would have gone down as a sack by DE Isaiahh Loudermilk, but it was negated due to a holding penalty against the center working on DT Isaiah Buggs. You can see the penalty when the tape slows, but also pay attention to where Loudermilk was when Bridgewater made the decision to step up and try to run with this one. He was hidden behind bodies, but when Bridgewater takes off Loudermilk picks a good angle, closes the gap and brings the QB down.
CamBlackburnWrites 