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The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 36-10 on Sunday evening. It was just a rough day of football the Steelers displayed all around. QB Ben Roethlisberger finished with 159 yards on 23 of 35 passing with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. The ground game somehow improved from a week ago with Najee Harris and company finished with a collective 25 rushes for 130 yards on the ground. Harris went 19 for 93 yards and is just 16 yards from breaking the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season. There isn’t much to really discuss about last week’s less than stellar performance. The Steeler offensive woes continued and it appears that this team just refuses to score in the first half of games. Well, it seems that you can’t rely on massively large comebacks to win you games in the NFL. The Steelers went down 14-0 before the first quarter ended and the Chiefs just never looked back. The Steelers move to 7-7-1 on the season and are back at home to take on the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football tomorrow night. After a grueling season, the Steelers are still somehow in the playoff hunt. Can the Steelers keep their playoff hopes alive this week? With a win, the Steelers remain in the playoff picture, but with a loss, the Steelers are virtually eliminated from playoff contention. Before we talk more about this week’s AFC North matchup, let’s discuss my negligent optimistic takes from last week, shall we?
1) Playing to the level of the opponent works in our favor this week!
This is probably my worst moment of predictions to watch for since I started doing these types of articles before games. I put my foot in my mouth in all three sections. I expected the Steelers to come out and absolutely perform against the Chiefs, because of the team’s history of playing to the level of competition under HC Mike Tomlin. This trend was supposed to work in our favor this week, but it didn’t play out that way at all. The Steelers were just routed. It was most likely wishful thinking, but I predicted the Steelers would have a successful early drive on offense last week and they laid an egg until a 34 yard Chris Boswell field goal with 3:34 remaining in the 3rd quarter to bring the score to 30-3.
2) Tall task for the Steelers’ Defensive Reserves, again
This was just too tall of a task for an injury plagued Steelers’ defense. Patrick Mahomes seemed to hit every target on the night and finished 23 of 30 for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns. According to the stat sheet, Robert Spillane filled in nicely for Devin Bush, he led the team with 13 tackles. If you would’ve told me that that the Chiefs would be without TE Travis Kelce and WR Tyreek Hill would’ve been held to 2 catches for 19 yards, I would’ve guessed a Steelers victory. The Chiefs just received contributions from depth pieces and that was the story of the night, Byron Pringle led the Chiefs in receiving with 6 receptions for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns. RB Derrick Gore finished with over 100 all-purpose yards on the night and nearly orchestrated a touchdown drive completely by himself at the end of the 1st half, receiving all touches on the drive excluding the touchdown pass.
3) Chasing Strahan!
I predicted that Defensive Player of the Year front-runner TJ Watt would collect 2 sacks against Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Watt was banged up and only played 55% of the defensive snaps on Sunday and only collected 1 solo tackle and 0 sacks. Maybe, Watt can have two big games against the Browns and Baltimore Ravens to finish out the regular season to catch Michael Strahan and his single-season sack record.
1) Farewell from Heinz, Big Ben!
This is it Steeler Nation, the moment we have all dreaded for the past couple of years. There really hasn’t been an official announcement, but Roethlisberger told reported that Monday Night’s AFC North game will likely be his last regular season game at Heinz Field. It’s going to be emotional. This what to watch for is more about who will be in attendance on Monday night. Look for Roethlisberger’s family to be there and past Steelers’ teammates to be in attendance as well. 7 has given us his all for the last 18 years and I’d love to see him put on one last show on Monday night. The quarterback is 91-31during the regular season at Heinz Field and is 25-3-1 against the Browns in his career. Let’s hope I’m not putting my foot in my mouth again this season, but I am predicting an efficient night and a victory on the back of Roethlisberger one last time.
2) Stop the Run, repeat performance from Week 8
In Week 8, the Steelers’ defense held the Browns rushing attack to under 100 yards rushing in a 15-10 victory over the Browns. If the Steelers’ defense wants to keep their playoff hopes alive and not spoil the Roethlisberger farewell party, they must have a repeat performance against the run. The Browns are harder to beat when they run the ball well and the offense doesn’t have to rely on the arm of Baker Mayfield. That’s not a slight on the quarterback, that’s just the truth. The Browns lead the league in yards per carry average with 5.1 yards per carry in 2021, behind Nick Chubb and company. The Steelers need to force Mayfield to win the game with his arm and apply as many resources as possible to stopping the Browns’ rushing attack.
3) Will the team come together to continue a playoff push for Roethlisberger’s likely final season?
You have to wonder about the timing of Roethlisberger retirement “announcement.” Could the quarterback be trying to rally the troops and get them to play with more fire in a must-win situation? It could certainly be a tactic to get his guys to rally around him and make one last playoff push before he rides into the sunset. Even if not purposeful, you would think that this team will do what they can to rally around him, make key plays, and keep their playoff hopes alive in the elimination game on Monday night. Roethlisberger iterated many times during the week that this season is NOT over and the team is still in this thing, despite this season’s woes. Cam Heyward is always ready to lay it all on the line. “I’ve been appreciative to be his teammate. Two games left. That’s all we’re guaranteed. Hopefully, we can make this tour last a little longer. You appreciate what he’s done. I want to send him off with everything I can.” Will it be enough to keep the Steelers’ playoff hopes alive on Monday Night Football against the Browns?
What do you think, Steeler Nation? What should we watch for against the Browns on Monday Night Football? Sound off in the comment section below on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
Last week in review
The 3 things I noted to keep an eye on last week were:
1) Playing to the level of the opponent works in our favor this week!
This is probably my worst moment of predictions to watch for since I started doing these types of articles before games. I put my foot in my mouth in all three sections. I expected the Steelers to come out and absolutely perform against the Chiefs, because of the team’s history of playing to the level of competition under HC Mike Tomlin. This trend was supposed to work in our favor this week, but it didn’t play out that way at all. The Steelers were just routed. It was most likely wishful thinking, but I predicted the Steelers would have a successful early drive on offense last week and they laid an egg until a 34 yard Chris Boswell field goal with 3:34 remaining in the 3rd quarter to bring the score to 30-3.
2) Tall task for the Steelers’ Defensive Reserves, again
This was just too tall of a task for an injury plagued Steelers’ defense. Patrick Mahomes seemed to hit every target on the night and finished 23 of 30 for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns. According to the stat sheet, Robert Spillane filled in nicely for Devin Bush, he led the team with 13 tackles. If you would’ve told me that that the Chiefs would be without TE Travis Kelce and WR Tyreek Hill would’ve been held to 2 catches for 19 yards, I would’ve guessed a Steelers victory. The Chiefs just received contributions from depth pieces and that was the story of the night, Byron Pringle led the Chiefs in receiving with 6 receptions for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns. RB Derrick Gore finished with over 100 all-purpose yards on the night and nearly orchestrated a touchdown drive completely by himself at the end of the 1st half, receiving all touches on the drive excluding the touchdown pass.
3) Chasing Strahan!
I predicted that Defensive Player of the Year front-runner TJ Watt would collect 2 sacks against Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Watt was banged up and only played 55% of the defensive snaps on Sunday and only collected 1 solo tackle and 0 sacks. Maybe, Watt can have two big games against the Browns and Baltimore Ravens to finish out the regular season to catch Michael Strahan and his single-season sack record.
Let’s take a look at 3 things we should watch for against the Browns:
1) Farewell from Heinz, Big Ben!
This is it Steeler Nation, the moment we have all dreaded for the past couple of years. There really hasn’t been an official announcement, but Roethlisberger told reported that Monday Night’s AFC North game will likely be his last regular season game at Heinz Field. It’s going to be emotional. This what to watch for is more about who will be in attendance on Monday night. Look for Roethlisberger’s family to be there and past Steelers’ teammates to be in attendance as well. 7 has given us his all for the last 18 years and I’d love to see him put on one last show on Monday night. The quarterback is 91-31during the regular season at Heinz Field and is 25-3-1 against the Browns in his career. Let’s hope I’m not putting my foot in my mouth again this season, but I am predicting an efficient night and a victory on the back of Roethlisberger one last time.
2) Stop the Run, repeat performance from Week 8
In Week 8, the Steelers’ defense held the Browns rushing attack to under 100 yards rushing in a 15-10 victory over the Browns. If the Steelers’ defense wants to keep their playoff hopes alive and not spoil the Roethlisberger farewell party, they must have a repeat performance against the run. The Browns are harder to beat when they run the ball well and the offense doesn’t have to rely on the arm of Baker Mayfield. That’s not a slight on the quarterback, that’s just the truth. The Browns lead the league in yards per carry average with 5.1 yards per carry in 2021, behind Nick Chubb and company. The Steelers need to force Mayfield to win the game with his arm and apply as many resources as possible to stopping the Browns’ rushing attack.
3) Will the team come together to continue a playoff push for Roethlisberger’s likely final season?
You have to wonder about the timing of Roethlisberger retirement “announcement.” Could the quarterback be trying to rally the troops and get them to play with more fire in a must-win situation? It could certainly be a tactic to get his guys to rally around him and make one last playoff push before he rides into the sunset. Even if not purposeful, you would think that this team will do what they can to rally around him, make key plays, and keep their playoff hopes alive in the elimination game on Monday night. Roethlisberger iterated many times during the week that this season is NOT over and the team is still in this thing, despite this season’s woes. Cam Heyward is always ready to lay it all on the line. “I’ve been appreciative to be his teammate. Two games left. That’s all we’re guaranteed. Hopefully, we can make this tour last a little longer. You appreciate what he’s done. I want to send him off with everything I can.” Will it be enough to keep the Steelers’ playoff hopes alive on Monday Night Football against the Browns?
What do you think, Steeler Nation? What should we watch for against the Browns on Monday Night Football? Sound off in the comment section below on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
