It took a little longer than they wanted, but the Steelers Sunday finally did enough on both sides of the ball to put away the pesky New York Jets, walking away with a 33-13 win to put them at 4-1 on the season.
Ben Roethlisberger, coming off a five touchdown outing last Sunday, threw for 380 yards and four touchdowns, two to wide out Sammie Coates, and one each to tight end Jesse James and wide out Antonio Brown.
Coates dropped a couple passes, but Ben was bent on getting him the ball, and he ended the day with six grabs for a career-high 139 yards and two scores, including a 72-yard score that put the Steelers up 7-3 early.
New York to their credit made it a lot more interesting than Steelers fans wanted, as they led 13-7 after Jets wide out Brandon Marshall pulled in a touchdown pass from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.
On the day Fitz was 25 of 38 for 265 yards and a touchdown, but in the second after after the Steelers got up 14-13, they put the clamps on the Jets offense, and held them to zero second half points.
The Steelers 3 ‘B’s’ all had good days, with Ben throwing for four scores, and running back Le’Veon Bell putting up 154 yards of total offense.
He was more effective catching the ball, pulling in a career-high nine receptions.
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Antonio Brown caught nine passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, but was told to remove his shoes after one quarter giving props for boxer Muhammad Ali or he would be removed from the game, and also didn’t do any sort of touchdown dance after his TD to extend the Steelers lead.
The offense was effective after they went down 13-7, as they drove the field in the final minutes of the half and scored on a Ben to James TD in the final first half seconds to take back the lead for good at 14-13.
The defense then took over, as the Jets were held to just 2-for-11 on third downs, and overall the second half they could muster little as the game was still in doubt until the Steelers scored on Brown’s TD to make it 24-13.
The black and gold now will wake up in first in the AFC North, as Baltimore lost for the second week in a row, falling at home to the Washington Redskins 16-10.
At 4-1, the Steelers have a great shot to get to 5-1 next week as they travel to South Florida and Miami to play the Dolphins, who lost at home Sunday to the Tennessee Titans.
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DrGeorge
October 9, 2016 at 7:47 pm
We won 31-13, outgained them 433 yards to 316, had 30 first downs to their 16, and ran 72 plays to their 58 and we got 3 sacks. Total domination right? This was the outcome everyone expected. Then why do I not feel like tossing confetti and drinking champagne?
Here’s why.
1. Haley expects this offense to average 30 points a game. If we can manage only 31 against the lowly Jets, playing at home, how will we fare against a good team?
2. We had 61 total yards rushing. Not because our passing game was so good, but because we couldn’t run the ball. We must be better balanced.
3. Our 3rd and 4th down combined efficiency was 5 for 11. Against the Jets!
4. Our execution on offense is average. Our run blocking was not good. Except for Brown, our receivers had lapses. Too often men gave up on their pass routes (Bell and Coates), Coates dropped more balls than he caught. Ben threw several errant passes, at least two of which hit defenders smack in the chest; a good team would have turned those into interceptions.
At least we can give thanks for a few good things:
1. Chris Hubbard played well at RT. He didn’t need a tight end to help him keep defensive ends at bay. If the Jets D-line is as good as people say it is, Hubbard deserves a tip of the hat.
2. Bell had a solid day as a receiver, with his 9 receptions.
3. Brown didn’t pout at not getting 100 yards and he didn’t do his vulgar dance. It is better for the team that we can spread the ball around than that Brown gets stellar stats. Defenses can’t take Brown away without giving up yards somewhere else.
4. Kudos to Ben R. for playing within the system. He didn’t put up monster numbers, but he played well in distributing the ball and showed good judgment in going back to Coates after numerous drops to build his confidence. That will pay dividends down the road.
5. Congratulations to the defense. After giving up two first downs on the first two plays, they settled down and played tough. Fitzgerald is not Tom Brady and his receivers are no match for ours, so we can’t get too carried away until we see the same level of performance against a much better team. I still remember the Eagles debacle. But it was a solid outing by all today on defense. The unit is looking better.
Dave B.
October 9, 2016 at 8:51 pm
Once again a great team win and a nice 4-1 record . Once again , Ben showed why he is becoming the best quarterback in the game today . If Sammie Coates catches the pass on the goal line right before halftime theres one touchdown . On the second occasion he dropped another pass right in his hands that would have went for another touchdown later in the game . That should have been 6 touchdown passes for Ben if Coates catches those two balls . The moral to this story is Coates needs to spend some time on the JUGGS machine . Way to many balls being dropped .