Recapping the Steelers Massive Win @ Washington
WALK IN YO TRAP AND TAKE OVER YO TRAP.
That’s exactly what the Steelers did to the red hot Washington Commanders en route to a 28-27 win, bringing our record to 7-2 on the year. That win sets us up for a fitting AFC North battle against the Baltimore Ravens where first place in the division will be on the line..but more on that this weekend.
I said in my ‘pregame thoughts’ on this game that the Steelers had to win the turnover battle in order to win. It turns out that I was wrong, because the Steelers were able to pull out this win in spite of a Russell Wilson INT on a deep ball, and a Jaylen Warren fumble in the red zone. The Steelers defense was unable to create any turnovers on the Commanders offense, but the Danny-Smith-led special teams unit was able to recover a muffed punt at the beginning of the second quarter. That means that the Commanders won the turnover battle 1-2, but still dropped this game due to some costly mistakes; most notably jumping offsides on the hard count late in the 4th quarter to seal the Steelers win.
Guys made plays in this game, no doubt, and we’ll get to that in a moment, but this was truly a masterclass in coaching in all three phases of the game. Danny Smith, Teryl Austin, Arthur Smith, and Mike Tomlin put on a show in this one…most notably Teryl Austin. I understand that the Commanders scored 27 points in this one, which is a bigger number than we’re accustomed to seeing from our defense, but the game plan was clear and effective from the start: keep Jayden Daniels in the pocket, and force him to get rid of the ball quickly. If it wasn’t for an uncharacteristically bad day for Joey Porter Jr, I think this win would’ve been dominant.
Scary Terry McLaurin had his way with Joey Porter Jr. The two lined up across each other on 22 of 34 McLaurin routes (64.7%). In those 22 routes, Terry McLaurin caught all 4 of his targets for 97 yards, including a 54 yard reception on the first play of the second half. Shoutout to Next Gen Stats for all those numbers, but to put it in layman's terms: JPJ got torched all day long. Those ugly ass numbers don’t include the two defensive pass interference calls on him, as well as a facemask penalty that negated an explosive Alex Highsmith sack in the 2nd quarter. I’m a huge fan of JPJ, but this was probably the worst game of his career. Zay Flowers is no Terry McLaurin, so he should be able to rebound against the Ravens this weekend.
Outside of some missteps by the secondary, our defense played a hell of a game against the Commanders. DeShon Elliot and Patrick Queen were creating negative plays left and right, putting the Commanders behind the chains. Teryl Austin was bringing the HEAT, blitzing the shit out of Jayden Daniels, and he really just didn’t have any time to let plays develop. Cam Heyward continues to produce at a Hall of Fame level at the age of 35. He finished the game with 2 sacks and a batted pass that was nearly intercepted by T.J. Watt in the 3rd quarter. Like I said, I understand that the Commanders scored 27 points, but we basically spotted them 7 points in the first quarter after the failed fake punt, and we had two turnovers on offense. Against the league’s best offense, that kind of thing should almost always result in a loss. We came out on top in spite of a myriad of mistakes, largely due to our defensive gameplan.
As I said earlier, though, all three phases made SIGNIFICANT plays in this game, and the offense was no exception. Russ mania continues in Pittsburgh as he improves to 3-0 as the Steelers’ starter. He was uncharacteristically inefficient in this one, completing only 50% of his passes, but it didn’t matter. He was throwing the ball over the top of the defense all day long, and it worked a lot of the time. He provided us with the best throw I’ve seen from a Steelers quarterback in a LONG time; a 32-yard bomb for a touchdown to Mike Williams late in the fourth quarter. What can I say about this play that hasn’t already been said? Russ, down 6 points late in the game, third down, gotta-have-it moment and he throws a fadeaway moonball, under pressure to the weak side of the field, and drops it right into the bucket. Russell Wilson throws an absolute DIME and Mike Williams does an excellent job tracking the ball despite him not even knowing the audible that was called just seconds earlier. That’s the kind of play I’ll remember my whole life. It was a really exciting moment, and the bar I was at in Central Illinois ERUPTED in “Here we go Steelers, here we go” chants immediately after. It’s crazy, to me, that the freaky-athletic touchdown catch by George Pickens in the first quarter isn’t the play that Steeler fans were talking about on victory Monday, but it just goes to show that our offense is humming right now, and Russell Wilson deserves his flowers. One last nerd stat: Russell Wilson has a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the 4th quarter this season. That’s winning football.
It seems to be a recurring theme, this season, that the Steelers are improving and winning games, while still leaving things to be desired on the field. I don’t love that Jaylen Warren fumbled that ball on the WSH goal line, and I don’t love that James Pierre has bricks for hands and dropped that would’ve-should’ve-could’ve pass on the fake punt. As tough as those things are to swallow, we took down an elite football team without playing our best ball. The road continues to get more and more narrow, and we just keep winning. That’s 4 straight for us as we put on our aprons and head to the kitchen. Yinz know what’s in the kitchen right? AFC North football is in the kitchen.
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