The punches were flying tonight in the Steelers’ first prime time match-up of the year.
The game’s first six possessions all ended with punts and totaled 99 yards. Not a lot of scoring, but it was a strong start if you’re a fan of trench play.
The Steelers defense had two sacks (Heyward, Highsmith), five tackles for loss [Heyward, Maulet, Buggs, Highsmith(2)], and four pass break-ups [Watt (2), Norwood, Wormley] by half time.
Ben was 18/23 for 119 yards with a TD. No picks, no sacks, he hadn’t taken a hit by halftime. RB Najee Harris had a hard time finding holes in the run game, but WR Diontae Johnson had a 25-yard run to set up the Steelers’ first red zone possession. Harris finished that possession with a TD catch so I can’t criticize him too harshly.
Their other TD came on a jet sweep to TE Eric Ebron. If you had that on your Bingo card, you probably lose a lot of money betting on football, but that one paid off.
QB Geno Smith – filling in for the first missed game of Russel Wilson’s career – was sacked twice and threw 8/14 for 63 yards in the first half. His offense had three total first downs and were 1/6 on 3rd down conversions. They possessed the ball for only 9:15, compared to the Steelers’ 20:45.
14-0 doesn’t sound like too much, but the Steelers had complete control of this game at the half.
Then something happened at halftime.
Seattle’s first three drives after the break all went for scores. OLB TJ Watt helped their cause on the first one by taking a personal foul; we’ve all seen him punching at footballs trying to create fumbles, but on this play he appeared to throw about five punches at the ball carrier. He could smell something foul brewing.
QB Ben Roethlisberger had a 9-play drive sandwiched in between there in which he went 5/7 passing for 70 yards, but it stalled inside the Seahawks’ 10 and they settled for 3.
Answering TD’s with FG’s is usually not a winning gambit. It felt like a victory when Highsmith recorded his second sack of the day to hold Seattle to a field goal on their third drive of the half, but the Steelers saw their first half cushion evaporate and found themselves right back in a tie game.
Also a losing gambit: unforced errors. With about 11:30 to play Ben wanted to throw a quick slant to Johnson but didn’t liked what he saw and pulled the ball back, twice. After the second pump the ball slipped out of his hand and hit the turf; though it was called incomplete on the field, it was ruled a fumble recovered by the defense after review.
Fortunately it didn’t hurt the Steelers. A flurry of punts later they got the ball back and drove down into Seattle’s side of the field, but again had to settle for a long FG. They took they lead, but left a minute and a half for Seattle to answer.
What ensued was one of the craziest end-of-regulation drives these eyes have ever seen. Seattle had modest success moving the ball, until FS Minkah Fitzpatrick reached around on a tackle to punch the ball out with about 20 seconds left. Miraculously the ball carrier fell on top of it and maintained possession. Two timeouts later but on the very next play, WR DK Metcalf caught a pass at the sideline but CB James Pierre came in with a fist and forced another fumble, which Seattle was again able to recover. With no timeouts and the clock rolling, they hurried to get set to spike the ball as seconds slipped away. The clock read 3, then 2, then 1, then the snap and the spike, and everyone in the stadium looked up at the clock read 0:00. Game over, right?
Wrong. Somehow, inexplicably and against everything we know about football, they officials had decided to go back and review the prior play for any funny business, even though another play had already been run. Once that ball is set, and snapped, and spiked, for the history of replay review in football you’ve never been able to go back and look at the previous play.
Well, tonight they broke that rule, and they determined what everyone already knew was the case, but they also put :03 back on the clock and of course they knock the kick through to send it to OT.
After that gut punch, it didn’t seem like the Steelers were going to have anything left in the tank. They lost the toss, Seattle wanted the ball first and with the running lanes they’d been creating in the second half who can blame them? It really looked like a “writing on the wall” situation.
TJ Watt had a run stuff on the first play and, although the Seahawks were able to drive into Pittsburgh territory, he also had a huge third down sack to shut down their threat.
For the Steelers’ first OT possession, Ben threw three passes short of the sticks. If you had that on your Bingo card, you’ve probably made a lot of money recently. Fortunately P Presley Harvin hit a field-flipper to pin Seattle at their 15.
The next snap Smith faked the hand-off and took a seven-step drop, looking for something deep. He pumped, didn’t like it and decided to take off up the middle. TJ Watt had been stymied by a triple team, but his eyes never left the ball. He read the play, disengaged from his rush and filled the hole. He hunts the ball so well, and put a right hook right on the bullseye to pop it out. Devin Bush falls on it for the fumble recovery, a couple kneel-downs to center the kick, and K Chris Boswell converted his third (of three) attempts on the day to seal the victory.
TJ Watt’s final stat line? So glad you asked. He had seven tackles (6 solo, three for loss), three passes defended, two sacks (including the game-sealing strip sack). Worth every penny.
CamBlackburnWrites 