Steelers “little brother” in the City of Brotherly Love

QB Kenny Pickett was dealing the entire deck, with 12 receptions by eight different receivers in the first two quarters. He chipped in 29 yards on six rushes but the biggest play from the Steelers offense was an apparent jet sweep that turned into a one-yard, left-handed TD pass from WR Chase Claypool to FB Derek Watt.

We’re all aware of the Eagles first-round draft pick: Jordan Davis, the BIG (capital B, I and G) defensive tackle out of Georgia. HB Najee Harris had four rushes for zero yards in the first half. Davis left the game in the second quarter with an apparently severe right leg injury.

AJ Brown – no relation to Antonio Brown – was the entire Eagles offense in the first half. He pulled in not one, not two, but THREE TD catches of at least 20 yards (27, 29, 39)…each over the shoulder of CB Ahkello Witherspoon.

On the opening drive of the third quarter it was CB James Pierre accompanying Brown on a nine-route (go) up the right sideline. SS Terrell Edmunds bit on a fake screen and five plays into the second half Jalen Hurts had his fourth long-range TD pass of the afternoon (34 yards).

It appeared the Steelers were poised to answer that strike with yet another three-and-out, but MLB Marcus Allen – the up-back on the punt unit – ran a successful fake to keep the offense alive. It set up this gain from the Canadian, eagle-hating Claypool:

After another successful fourth-down conversion – a nine-yard swing pass to Najee – the Steelers ultimately ended a 15-play, seven-minute drive with a 29-yard FG to cut it to a two-score contest. 28-13 PHI

A sack from DE Cam Heyward – the Steelers’ third of the day – stalled Philly’s next drive. Najee clicked off an 18-yard run – his longest of the season – and TE Pat Freiermuth picked up another first down as the clock rolled over to the fourth quarter.

WR Stevens Sims had a nifty reverse for 11 yards before our old friend Javon Hargrave recorded a strip sack in pursuit of Pickett. Philly had the ball back almost at midfield with a two-score cushion and 14 minutes to play.

Two plays later the Eagles were in the end zone again. They were the Buckeyes to the Steelers’ Nittany Lion today. With Gardner Minshew in the game for Hurts the Steelers finally got a quick stop and decent field position. HB Jaylen Warren had three carries for 37 yards but Kenny had his fourth tipped ball interception of the season and the game was effectively over.

The Steelers’ rookie QB finished the day 25/38 for 191 yards with 0 TD, 1 INT and 6 sacks. He was also charged with two fumbles – one which he lost.

FINAL: 35-13 PHI

Dolphins Down Steelers on SNF, 16-10

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:

13-10 MIA

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

Steelers Stun Brady’s Bucs

Miracles do happen! With no TJ, no Pat, none of the starting secondary and the starting QB leaving just over halfway through, the Steelers pulled off a 20-18 home upset over the Great Tom Brady.

Pittsburgh’s defense held the Bucs offense to three punts and three field goals in the first half. One of those field goals came after a 1st&Goal from the Pittsburgh three. DE Cam Heyward dragged Leonard Fournette down with only a handful of blades of grass on 1st Down. DT Larry Ogunjobi knifed through the Center’s chop block to push them back to the three on 2nd Down. Here’s the 3rd Down play:

The doink giveth; the doink taketh away. K Chris Boswell was the victim of a rogue goal post in the Cincinnati game but today the cross-bar was an accomplice. He converted football’s equivalent of the alley-oop from 55 yards out and Pittsburgh led 10-9 at the half.

Steelers fans were treated to a sampler platter of rare delicacies this afternoon. In addition to beating Tom Brady, WR Steven Sims took the second half kickoff 89 yards to the Tampa 12. On the radio broadcast Billy noted it was the longest Steelers kick return that didn’t result in a TD in team history. It was the team’s longest return since Juju Smith-Schuster had a 96-yard kick return TD as a rookie (2017).

The Steelers managed only a field goal from that stellar field position. It’s hard to settle for kicking points when you know they have Tom Brady on the other side. He again picked his way down inside the Steelers’ five, but was AGAIN stood up with a TFL from SS Terrell Edmunds and a QBH from Ogunjobi. 13-12 PIT

QB Kenny Pickett was 11/18 for 67 yards and 1 TD in his first home start. His outing was shortened when his head bounced off the field after completing a pass that went for nearly 30 yards. He made a brief visit to the medical tent before retreating to the locker room with a concussion. To add insult to injury, a holding penalty on LG Kevin Dotson negated the gain.

QB Mitch Trubisky once again wrapped the reins around his fist. He was 9/12 for 144 yards and a TD of his own. Most of that yardage came on this 45-yard catch-and-run to rookie TE Connor Heyward:

WR Chase Claypool flashed signs of his dangerous rookie form. He had seven receptions for 96 yards (both led the team), including this 6-yard score to go up 20-12:

Tampa responded with a 14-play, 73-yard drive that necessitated two 4th&1 conversions. The heart was taken out of the stadium momentarily when Leonard Fournette took a swing pass 11 yards, through a number of potential tacklers, into the end zone to pull within a two-point conversion attempt of a tie game. My guy MLB Devin Bush restored the energy with a fantastic play on Chris Godwin – a much faster man. Take a look if you don’t believe me:

Mitch got the ball back with just over 4-and-a-half minutes to play. He found Claypool for 17 on 3rd&15, and later for 26 on 3rd&11. As the Bucs ran out of timeouts, Mitch moved the chains with his legs and Victory Formation was deployed. Boy have I missed Victory Formation.