Hit ‘em high, hit ‘em low: Steelers outlast Seahawks in OT 23-20

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.

Najee’s receiving TD

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.

Enron’s rushing TD

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.

Tomlin, even after the win, still rightly ticked off about the end of regulation

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.

The Sack that Sealed it

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.

Check out Cam Heyward’s postgame presser outfit
Cover image: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Week 6 Preview: Steelers vs. Seahawks

You don’t have to have a daily relationship with the Steelers; we love inviting you in to worship with us on Sundays. For the “Christmas and Easter” fans here’s a look at what to expect when you tune in this week.

This Sunday the Seattle Seahawks come to Heinz Field for Sunday Night Football on NBC, so you’ll have to “Wait All Day” for this one.

Offensively, the ’Hawks are anemic at best. They lead the NFL in punts and have only 5 FG attempts on the year. Not only are Seattle’s drives unsuccessful, they’re often not even competitive.

Compounding those struggles, they could be missing all three of their top offensive skill players. This Sunday will be the first start of QB Russell Wilson’s (#3) career he’ll miss due to injury. The 10-year veteran had surgery on that noodle finger this week after he was injured in last week’s loss to the Rams. He hopes to return by week 10, per Ian Rapaport.

Already a crippling blow, starting RB Chris Carson (neck) and WR D.K. Metcalf (foot) may join him on the sideline. Carson is dealing with what Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll referred to as a “long term condition” and has not practiced this week. After taking an early exit from practice on Wednesday, Metcalf was a DNP (did not participate) on Thursday.

Although Metcalf (#14) is going the wrong direction on the injury report you can bet the 6’4”, 235-pound wideout who runs a 4.3 40 is a point of focus for Keith Butler. He’s got the body of Megatron with Tyreek Hill speed. “Hope for sunshine, prepare for rain.”

The other pass-catcher to know about is WR Tyler Lockett (#16). He’s as solid as they come, especially with his feet in the Promised Land.

Seattle’s backup QB is Geno Smith (#7) who Pittsburgh fans likely remember from his WVU career, famously 2-0 against the Pitt Panthers. He doesn’t have the speed or the escapability of a Russ Wilson that just leaves you scratching your head. But he can extend plays and move pockets laterally, wrinkling defenses a bit.

Despite having All-Pro MLB Bobby Wagner (#54, second in the NFL in tackles) and two DT’s over 300 pounds (Poona Ford – 310; former Steeler Al Woods – 330) on the payroll, the Seahawks have allowed the second-most rushing yards in the NFL this season. They’ve also allowed the third-most passing yards. They’re a pale specter of the “Legion of Boom” defense and the Steelers should have options in how to attack them.

S Jamal Adams (#33) is the premier blitzing defensive back in the NFL. He has 21.5 career sacks – a formidable 9.5 last season alone – and each season on his resume he has notched more sacks than the previous campaign. He’s still hunting his first of the season and he’ll be licking his chops to get after Ben.

According the Seahawks writer Gregg Bell on the Steelers Depot podcast, the Seahawks are going to try to run the same Russell Wilson offense with Smith. To what extent that remains possible once TJ Watt, Melvin Ingram, Cam Heyward & Alex Highsmith enter the chat remains to be seen. They may be able to neutralize one of those guys, but at least one of the others will have a big day.

For the Steelers, the ground game finally found some purchase last week after spinning their tires for the better part of, idk, three years? RB Najee Harris (#22) got the first 1oo-yard rushing game of his career against the Broncos; look for them to try and continue that trend this week to grow the confidence of a young offensive line.

I keep saying it and Ben keeps making me look like a jackass, but eventually I’ll be right so I’ll keep saying it. Pat Freiermuth (#88) has been criminally underworked for his pay grade and it’s time to get him involved. Ben said as much in an interview this week, saying the onus is on him to work the rookie TE into the offensive plan.

Juju Smith-Schuster Redefining Masculinity

Juju Smith-Schuster had season-ending surgery Wednesday on his right shoulder, after sustaining a hard hit to that arm in Sunday’s 27-19 victory over the Denver Broncos.

On Monday Juju held an event for his charity The Juju Foundation, which supports under-funded youth programs. While addressing the crowd he made some emotional remarks about what football means to him.

I’m not crying, you’re crying. Wait, I’m looking in a mirror. Well I guess I am crying.

They say behind every great man there’s a great woman. In this case, literally: Juju’s mother – Sammy Schuster – steps onto the stage to offer support to her son as the words swelling up in his throat were having a hard time escaping his mouth. We should all send her a card this Mothers’ Day.

The prototypical “Man’s Man” kind of men are taught to be strategically stoic. Especially on the football field where our emotions can be weaponized against us by your more crafty opponents, we effort to be repressed. “Act like you’ve been there before,” we say.

Men from past generations would hide behind that podium and talk about everything other than their injury. They’d shame themselves for feeling because they’re so accustomed to their playground bullies, and their divorced fathers, and all the lonely town drunks, shaming them for feeling. Juju got right into it; he told us he cried all night, and he clearly still wasn’t done.

In doing so he sent a message to young boys all over the world and it says more than “it’s okay to cry.” In graciously accepting his mother’s strength he showed us its okay to need help sometimes. So much of the Myth of Manliness is wrapped up in self-sufficiency but sometimes the strongest thing we can do is ask for help, or admit we don’t have all the answers, or just stop and ask the guy in that gas station for directions because we’ve passed him four times and we’re clearly going in circles at this point.

With the ousting of Jon Gruden earlier this week, it seems the football world is taking a positive step in distancing itself from the problematic machismo of yore. If I’m the NFL, I’m making Juju the face of the brand. Whether it’s quantified in the stat sheet or not this guy goes out there and plays with everything he’s got, but more importantly he’s a true man off the field.

Smith-Schuster – who signed a one-year contract last March to return to Pittsburgh for Ben Roethlisberger’s farewell tour – had 15 receptions this year for 129 yards and 0 TD’s.