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The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to defy logic as for a 4th consecutive game. They refused to die and had a 2nd half rally that led to a chaotic finish and unlikely 19-13 win over the Tennessee Titans.
It was unlikely in how the Steelers were dominated. They surrendered 200 yards rushing for a second consecutive week and have now gone a month without scoring a first half TD. The Titans executed a 19-play drive encompassing 64 yards and taking 10:17 off the clock (the longest drive for the Titans since 2003) that took herculean efforts by T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward to combine for the sack to force a FG. It would be big plays by the defense that would be the difference in the game as the Steelers forced a season high 4 turnovers to go along with 4 sacks.
CBS Sports
It was chaotic in how the officials granted an extremely generous spot after Joe Haden made perhaps the biggest tackle of the season when he appeared to have clearly stopped Nick Westbrook-Ikhine a yard short of the a first down on 4th and 6 with 27 seconds remaining.
CBS Sports
The officials initially ruled the Titans had a first down before bringing out the sticks for an official measurement and a replay that confirmed that the Tennessee receiver was short of the line to gain. Upon the ruling, there was no hiding the emotion from Steelers veteran defenders Heyward, Fitzpatrick, Haden and Watt after being taken to task for lack of effort by Joe Greene the previous week as they took ownership of their Steelers defensive pride to heart.
CBS Sports
Haden had been sidelined since Week 10 with a foot injury and his absence was sorely felt. It wasn’t officially announced that he would be active until Sunday and he played in a limited (27) snap count, but it seemed like he was a catalyst to a lot of big plays from the secondary. When Cam Sutton delivered a ball jarring hit on Titans WR Racey McMath, Haden made a sensational effort to snag the called fumble in mid-air that might as easily been ruled an interception.
CBS Sports
It’s not clear that saying Haden’s presence changed the defense entirely, but it seemed to inspire some great play in the secondary from teammates Arthur Maulet (5 tackles, 1 FF), Terrell Edmonds (10 tackles, 2 TFL) and the great Minkah Fitzpatrick (14 tackles, 12 solo and 1 FR).
CBS Sports
CBS Sports
Haden certainly was recognized by his teammates after the game, most notably by Heyward and Watt. Heyward commented that “It’s not just his playmaking, it’s the presence that he brings” with Watt simply referring to him as “Joe Money.”
Still, no one had a greater impact than Watt, who changed the outcome of the game, again. Watt didn’t even look like he was at full strength as he overcame clear holding non-calls to record 1.5 sacks (setting a Steelers single-season record and extending his lead to 2.5 over Myles Garrett and Nick Bosa) in addition to a fumble recovery, a tackle for loss and 3 QB hits. With a career total of 66 sacks, Watt passed Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas for the 3rd-most sacks in the first 5 years of any NFL player.
CBS Sports
CBS Sports
While the defense wasn’t dominant at the line of scrimmage, it at least brought the big plays. The same could not be said about the offense. Ben Roethlisberger entered the game needing only 27 yards to pass Philip Rivers for 5th on the All-Time passing yard list, but didn’t hit that mark until the second quarter. Ben finished with only 148 yards passing and his 26-game streak of consecutive games with a TD pass was snapped. While Diontae Johnson achieved his first career 1,000 yard season, it was his lowest output of the season. And Najee Harris was bottled up to 18 yards rushing on 12 carries (109 yards from joining Franco Harris as the only Steelers rookie RB to rush for 1000 yards) and only 2 receptions for 8 yards.
The Steelers offense could not find any traction despite the defense positioning them with drives starting in Tennessee territory. The lone Steelers TD on the day came from Roethlisberger on a rare QB sneak and was Roethlisberger’s first rushing TD since his 1-yard game winning lunge vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018.
CBS Sports
The rest of the points came off the reliable leg of Chris Boswell, who made 4/5 FGs on the day. His only miss was a 56-yard attempt at the end of the first half, of which most of that blame should have landed on the poor clock management by Mike Tomlin and his misuse of timeouts.
In the end, the Steelers pulled out an ugly win, an outcome far more preferable than the “glorious” 29-point and 27-point comebacks that came up just short. And while the Steelers have more than their share of doubters and detractors, they remain not only alive for a playoff spot, but for the AFC North Division title as well.
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It was unlikely in how the Steelers were dominated. They surrendered 200 yards rushing for a second consecutive week and have now gone a month without scoring a first half TD. The Titans executed a 19-play drive encompassing 64 yards and taking 10:17 off the clock (the longest drive for the Titans since 2003) that took herculean efforts by T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward to combine for the sack to force a FG. It would be big plays by the defense that would be the difference in the game as the Steelers forced a season high 4 turnovers to go along with 4 sacks.
CBS Sports
It was chaotic in how the officials granted an extremely generous spot after Joe Haden made perhaps the biggest tackle of the season when he appeared to have clearly stopped Nick Westbrook-Ikhine a yard short of the a first down on 4th and 6 with 27 seconds remaining.
CBS Sports
The officials initially ruled the Titans had a first down before bringing out the sticks for an official measurement and a replay that confirmed that the Tennessee receiver was short of the line to gain. Upon the ruling, there was no hiding the emotion from Steelers veteran defenders Heyward, Fitzpatrick, Haden and Watt after being taken to task for lack of effort by Joe Greene the previous week as they took ownership of their Steelers defensive pride to heart.
CBS Sports
Haden had been sidelined since Week 10 with a foot injury and his absence was sorely felt. It wasn’t officially announced that he would be active until Sunday and he played in a limited (27) snap count, but it seemed like he was a catalyst to a lot of big plays from the secondary. When Cam Sutton delivered a ball jarring hit on Titans WR Racey McMath, Haden made a sensational effort to snag the called fumble in mid-air that might as easily been ruled an interception.
CBS Sports
It’s not clear that saying Haden’s presence changed the defense entirely, but it seemed to inspire some great play in the secondary from teammates Arthur Maulet (5 tackles, 1 FF), Terrell Edmonds (10 tackles, 2 TFL) and the great Minkah Fitzpatrick (14 tackles, 12 solo and 1 FR).
CBS Sports
CBS Sports
Haden certainly was recognized by his teammates after the game, most notably by Heyward and Watt. Heyward commented that “It’s not just his playmaking, it’s the presence that he brings” with Watt simply referring to him as “Joe Money.”
Still, no one had a greater impact than Watt, who changed the outcome of the game, again. Watt didn’t even look like he was at full strength as he overcame clear holding non-calls to record 1.5 sacks (setting a Steelers single-season record and extending his lead to 2.5 over Myles Garrett and Nick Bosa) in addition to a fumble recovery, a tackle for loss and 3 QB hits. With a career total of 66 sacks, Watt passed Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas for the 3rd-most sacks in the first 5 years of any NFL player.
CBS Sports
CBS Sports
While the defense wasn’t dominant at the line of scrimmage, it at least brought the big plays. The same could not be said about the offense. Ben Roethlisberger entered the game needing only 27 yards to pass Philip Rivers for 5th on the All-Time passing yard list, but didn’t hit that mark until the second quarter. Ben finished with only 148 yards passing and his 26-game streak of consecutive games with a TD pass was snapped. While Diontae Johnson achieved his first career 1,000 yard season, it was his lowest output of the season. And Najee Harris was bottled up to 18 yards rushing on 12 carries (109 yards from joining Franco Harris as the only Steelers rookie RB to rush for 1000 yards) and only 2 receptions for 8 yards.
The Steelers offense could not find any traction despite the defense positioning them with drives starting in Tennessee territory. The lone Steelers TD on the day came from Roethlisberger on a rare QB sneak and was Roethlisberger’s first rushing TD since his 1-yard game winning lunge vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018.
CBS Sports
The rest of the points came off the reliable leg of Chris Boswell, who made 4/5 FGs on the day. His only miss was a 56-yard attempt at the end of the first half, of which most of that blame should have landed on the poor clock management by Mike Tomlin and his misuse of timeouts.
In the end, the Steelers pulled out an ugly win, an outcome far more preferable than the “glorious” 29-point and 27-point comebacks that came up just short. And while the Steelers have more than their share of doubters and detractors, they remain not only alive for a playoff spot, but for the AFC North Division title as well.
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
