The first quarter had me tugging on my shirt collar and doing big Bart Simpson gulps. Tua was 6/7 on his first drive – the only incompletion being a drop in the end zone, which was followed immediately by a TD pass. 7-0 MIA
Pittsburgh’s first two offensive drives were a three-and-out (with a dud of a punt) and a two-play interception. They certainly weren’t doing their defense any favors in the Miami heat but the Steelers dug in their heels and forced a couple of FG’s. 13-0 MIA
The Steelers got on the board with a 45-yard FG, capping off a 12-play, 48-yard drive that required a 4th&1 conversion. Suffice it to say there wasn’t a lot of potential energy in the offense…and very little kinetic, either. 13-3 MIA
Defensively Pittsburgh was running a lot of soft zones, getting jabbed underneath over and over and over. They started to man-up and disrupt the timing between the passer and receiver. Some would say there were a couple of drops in there but however you parse it, the Steelers finally forced a punt.
WR George Pickens first catch of the day went for 30 yards. QB Kenny Pickett extended the drive with a 16-yard scramble on 3rd&12. Pickens caught three more passes in that drive, including this fantastic TD:
Miami played the old “anything you can do,” starting off with a 32-yard completion. They closed out the first half with another FG. 16-10 MIA
After another quick Steelers three-and-out, the Dolphins picked up right where they left off. They marched down into Pittsburgh’s red zone with little resistance but came up empty thanks to run stuffs from DE Cam Heyward and MLB Myles Jack.
Steelers defenders dropped three potential interceptions through three quarters. Their offense was on the field for 18 plays in their first five drives of the second half. Two first downs, in five drives.
Fortunately Miami was matching you punt-for-punt. Kenny threw his second interception on the 12th. play of a drive deep into Miami territory. CB Levi Wallace recorded the team’s fourth dropped INT on 3rd down but you know what another name for a dropped INT is?
PR Gunner Olszewski had a clean fair catch at the 13. Pickett’s first jab was a body blow, underneath to TE Pat Freiermuth for 7. Kenny good in and took a hit from Melvin Ingram but repeated the maneuver for 8 more, taking us to the two-minute warning.
Pickett rolled out on 1st&10 but threw it away under pressure. He stepped up looking to run on 2nd&10 but only found a couple. He went underneath to WR Chase Claypool on 3rd down, setting up a 4th&6. Freiermuth found a seam up the middle and Kenny put it on him for 21 yards to keep the game alive. After a spike, Diontae caught a ball underneath, made a nifty move, picked up a first down but more importantly got out of bounds.
Freiermuth caught another ball in the middle of the field for 8. With the clock running Kenny looked deep for Diontae but the ball was under-thrown. Pickett’s third interception of the night effectively ended the contest.
FINAL: 16-10 MIA
Steely Cam 