Beer We Go Steelers

A familiar phrase which has appeared several times in this blog, was a “Tale of Two Halves” this was exactly that, the Steelers had a Jekyll and Hyde game where it appeared that the once promising season would hit rock bottom finally, it was close and after the first half it looked like the end was near. But that is not what happened. The offense came back from the dead, the defense tightened up and the Steelers completed a monster comeback against the Indianapolis Colts. Bringing a renewed sense of optimism to the Steelers and a long over due North Division Title!

Ben Roethlisberger, who was left for dead after the Bengals game, looked off considerably again in the first half. He had several miscommunications with his receivers, and he threw for an anemic 98 yards in the first half, the stats don’t even tell the story, it was considerably worst than that.

After the Colts scored again on their opening 3^rd quarter drive putting the Steelers down by 17. Roethlisberger went to work; he drilled a brilliant 39-yard pass to Diontae Johnson to cut the deficit to 10 points. With a quick Steelers score, it gave them a chance to stay in the game. After failing to score in the red zone, Roethlisberger led another drive late in the 3^rd culminating with an Eric Ebron touchdown eight seconds into the 4^th quarter. Finally, the comeback was complete with a 25-yard pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster for the eventual game winner. Roethlisberger finished with his second-best stat line of the season, racking up 342 yards and three touchdowns.

The running game after showing some promise in the loss to the Bengals was nonexistent again. The Steelers finished with a horrendous 20 yards on the ground. James Conner and Benny Snell found little room to run and once the Steelers were down by 17, there was little opportunity to try. The offensive line has no push up front and failed to convert several short yardage situations. The last of which gave the Colts another shot at winning the game.

It was a respectable if not mediocre performance by the defense. After a lousy first half of football, they held the Colts Hall of Fame Quarterback Philip Rivers and prolific offense to just three points.

The front seven again was leaky on the running game, allowing 127 yards on the ground. Even the return of Vince Williams didn’t help stop the bleeding completely. The second half adjustments helped and the Steelers hold on.

T.J. Watt was a one-man wrecking crew in the first half and his big play strip sack led to the Steelers first touchdown, but more importantly kept them in the game. Watt had a monster day and was double teamed and held for most of the game. Mike Hilton had a big game as well with an interception that helped spark the comeback.

Philip Rivers had a big first half, but then was handled in the second half. The defense pounded him with five sacks and the secondary zone defense tightened. Rivers had only been sacked 16 times all season. He clearly was affected by the pressure and made some errant throws. Stephon Tuitt and Steelhead Heyward each recorded a sack. Heyward absolutely lowered the boom on Rivers in a key spot. Give credit to Alex Highsmith, who has been a solid disappointment so far, had two key pressures forcing the game clinching fourth down incompletion. It as a nice comeback. Avery Williamson got on the board with a sack as well.

Special teams continued its up and down season. Matthew Wright did a nice job filling in for Chris Boswell on extra points, but his kickoffs were horrible. The coverage units were plain awful and gave the Colts good field position all day. Nyheim Hines had 63 yards on three returns for the Colts. A costly Justin Layne penalty set the Colts up on a short field on a return. Ray-Ray McCloud showed some flashes of life with a 22 yard kick return.

The refs let both teams play and while they missed some crucial calls, it is preferable that they stay out of the way.

The coaching staff which is going to get creamed in the mainstream media, deserves a lot of credit for yesterday. Yes, they bungled the clock management at the end of the first half. Yes, they started again slowly and the offense looked terrible. The Steelers were awful but there was never a sense of panic on the sideline. It looked like a group trying to solve an equation, they did it. You could see the frustration, but everyone looked composed. The second half adjustments on defense were spot on and letting Ben call the second half offense really opened the scoring.

It was a great comeback, and the Steelers will win a minimum of 12 games and finish as either the two or three seed in the AFC, that doesn’t happen without great coaching.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Ben Roethlisberger, He had another disastrous first half but then something clicked and then he led a tremendous comeback. Also Considered: T.J. Watt who was a wrecking crew. Diontae Johnson who made a great catch to begin the comeback!

Where I watched the game: At the house with KGB and the Tailgate Kids until half time. Little Miss Tailgate went to work, our 81-year-old aunt joined us for half time! “Steel the Snacks”, this week consisted of Prime-Rib Paninis sliced up. It was a great effort by KGB. They came out right when the comeback started! No Beer, which I know is odd for a group called Beer We Go Steelers, I was nursing a stomach virus (NOT COVID) so had to drink club soda. I also could only try the snacks so hoping to grab a leftover today! (Editors Note: I think Dante finished them)

My Stat of the week: This was completely different about 3PM yesterday, but going with 17 Points, the largest deficit ever overcome by the Steelers in the regular season under Mike Tomlin. The Steelers have now done it three times, beating the Colts yesterday, Bengals (2017, one of the Terrible Towel Incidents) and Broncos (2015). Largest Steelers comeback of all time is 21 points which they have done three times also. (Ravens 97, Bills 85, Cardinals 53)

Honorable Mention: Ben Roethlisberger now holds the edge in wins 4-3 over Philip Rivers with one of the wins coming in post season.

My Thoughts on next week: The division is wrapped up and the Steelers will finish in the two or three seed for the playoffs. The Browns are fighting for their playoff lives after laying an egg against the Jets yesterday. After getting hosed by the league with no actual bye week, the Steelers should treat this game as the bye week. Start Mason Rudolph who could potentially send the Browns home, after he was nearly brained with his helmet by Myles Garrett a season ago. Try and find some semblance of a running game and work on it against a solid Browns defense.

This week’s Jersey: Franco Harris, 32, Pro Football Hall of Fame Jersey black, it also inspired me to tweak next year’s BWG Steelers design (The original 2020 design which was shelved because of the Pandemic). The Jersey was a Christmas gift!

On this day in 1972, EVERYTHING changed for the Steelers.

When Kevin came to the Steelers in 1993 he had an immediate impact. Paired with Greg Lloyd, Kevin and Greg led a defense that became known as Blitzburgh and went on to play in Super Bowl XXX. Kevin’s energy and enthusiasm were inspiring for our team as well as our fans.

What once looked like a magical season has begun to crash down to earth. The Steelers dropped their third game in a row and fell to the hapless Bengals. It was the first division loss for the Steelers this season and it put a division title on hold if not in jeopardy.

Ben Roethlisberger looked lost and worn out on Monday night, his slump continued. He played the worst half of football in his career with an abysmal 5 for 13 and a paltry NEGATIVE TWO yards. He looked confused and out of synch all night. Roethlisberger would finish 20-38 for 170 yards and accounted for two turnovers. That yielded 10 points for the Bengals.

The receivers too are playing poorly after a great start, JuJu Smith-Schuster has all but vanished from the offense, only making his presence known with a fumble, that pretty much sealed the Steelers fate and a TickTock dance ritual that is driving EVERYONE crazy. Diontae Johnson had a nice bounce back game and led the team in catches, Chase Claypool made a nice play for 37-yards.

The running game showed flashes of life and Benny Snell racked up 84 yards on the ground and grinded through the game. It was a nice effort for Snell, once again the Steelers struggled though to convert short yardage situations and it cost them.

The shorthanded defense hung in there but wore down as the game went on. The Bengals blasted the Steelers front for 152 yards. Giovani Bernard had 83 tough yards on the ground, fighting for every inch of his gains. Ryan Finley had the back breaker with a 23-yard scramble. He could never find his niche passing and the Steelers did lay him out with two sacks, but he made the plays when he needed to.

T.J. Watt’s production is hurt without Bud Dupree and Alex Highsmith has not been a huge factor since taking over.

The special teams played well and had a good week. Jordan Berry average over 50 yards per punt…and there were a lot of them. Ray-Ray McCloud had a 30-yard kick return. The coverage units seemed to fix any of the leaks and hopefully things are trending up.

The Steelers coaches need to do some real soul searching. The Washington game was a breakdown, this was an implosion. The Steelers completely fell apart in the first half yielding 17 points on turnovers and the mistakes on defense are really about gap integrity and non-disciplined play. After a valiant effort at the beginning of last season the Steelers collapsed losing the last three, this team looks like they are on the verge of another catastrophic collapse.

Just for the record, the refs last night were atrocious again. They missed several key calls including a game breaking pass interference call. They also missed several cheap shots by both teams. The Monday Football announce crew is absolutely horrible. The game was nearly unwatchable.

Regaining some semblance of a running game and getting back a few of the starters on defense should help. Otherwise, a once promising season will be a footnote in history!

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Benny Snell, he played tough grind it out football and showed some glimpses of a running game. Also Considered: Diontae Johnson, who had a nice bounce back game.

Where I watched the game: At the house with KGB and the Tailgate Kids (At least two of them).In the “Steel the Snacks”, KGB made Cincinnati Coney Hot Dogs, loaded with chilly, onions and cheese. The dogs were phenomenal and no kidding the Steelers turned it around at least for a little while when they came out. I had Bushwick Lager Pounders (They came in a black and gold can which is why I picked them) and KGB had Harpoon Holiday! Dante had A&W Root Beer. Need to make some changes on the beers and such.

My Stat of the week: Stat of the week 3-6 over the last two years in the Month of December. The Steelers historically thrive this team of year…the last two years they have faded down the stretch. The first half was one of the worst I have ever seen the Steelers play.

My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers need a win desperately to clinch the division. The Bengals seem like the likely candidate, they now must face down a game Colts team and then possibly play for the Division title against the resurgent Browns. The Steelers have got to win out now.

This week’s Jersey: No Jersey this week because it was a Prime-Time game.

With the offense regressing and the defensive injuries catching up, the Steelers dropped their second game in a row to the Buffalo Bills, marking the first losing streak of the season.

The offense is now struggling significantly. Teams are figuring out how to defend the dink and dunk passing game when the Steelers receivers aren’t dropping easy catches. Diontae Johnson had a tough first half and his case of dropsies continued. He is a tremendous playmaker and he rebounded in the second half, he made significant mistakes and found himself on the bench. Eric Ebron looks like an unstoppable threat and then makes a key drop in an important spot. The receivers need to regain some consistency. There was no spark on offense and the Steelers punted EIGHT times.

Ben Roethlisberger had his worst performance of the season against a mediocre Bills’ defense. Roethlisberger only mustered 187 yards and had two back breaking interceptions, the first was a pick six by Taron Johnson when the Steelers were driving and leading in the first half, the last was an underthrown ball to James Washington that Levi Wallace picked off to end any chance of a comeback. The personnel around him didn’t help the situation and the complete disappearance of any sort of running game is now a glaring weakness.

Playing behind a banged up offensive line, James Conner’s return had no impact. Conner finished with 10 carries for just under 20 yards and almost had a costly fumble. Jaylen Samuels and Benny Snell combined for 29 yards between them and were never a factor. Starting guard Matt Feiler was lost for the game early, his backup Kevin Dotson also left the game with injury forcing J.C. Hassenauer into action at guard. The line finally surrendered a sack after keeping Ben upright for five games. They are getting no push at all and are struggling.

The Steelers defense hung tough and were dominating the first half, but eventually wore down. Josh Allen, was running for his life all game, but found a rhythm with Stefon Diggs exploiting the Steelers soft zone coverage. Alex Highsmith continues to be a work in progress with the Steelers desperately missing Bud Dupree. T.J. Watt could never get going and was a step behind most of the night. Cam Heyward played a physical game and anchored the front.

Avery Williamson and Marcus Allen held their own in their first respective first starts. Williamson did well as the signal caller and led the team in tackles. He also is a solid tackler and looks like a nice addition. Allen who is playing out of position, did a nice job for most of the game and brings a coverage aspect that is unique. No Joe Haden was also a factor in Diggs big performance, but Mike Hilton and Cam Sutton played well as their roles expanded on defense. Hilton chipped in with a pick and some solid tackling.

While it was far from a great performance the defense deserved a better outcome.

The special teams slide back to being a huge liability is almost complete. The kick coverage teams are terrible and undisciplined. Any magic Ray-Ray McCloud had, is now gone and his questionable decision making started the Steelers off deep on their side of the field. Jordan Berry punted a whopping eight times and had mixed results. He never was able to get the full flip of the field and averaged a paltry 39.8 yards.

The strength of the offense is the receivers, and they are playing poorly, the strength of the defense is the linebackers, and they are a MASH unit right now. With both units not playing well, whether it is mistakes or injuries the Steelers are losing and seem be falling back to the pack after a meteoric start to the season.

It was inevitable that at some point the Steelers were going to go through this kind of lull. The key now is to see how the coaches adjust to it. The playoffs are a lock, but the division is now very much up for grabs. Coaching is the only thing that will keep this season from failing.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Cam Heyward, he played a tough physical game, the stats didn’t show it, but he proved why he is the team captain and one of the best at his position. We are proud of Steelhead. Also Considered: James Washington, he makes the most of his time on the field and Sunday was no exception, great effort, and he scored the first touchdown of the game.

Where I watched the game: Back at the house with KGB, my friend Mike who came for the first week, and Dante. (Because of the virus, we are limiting people over) There is a curfew in New York so going out for the games during primetime is not possible. In the “Steel the Snacks”, KGB made Buffalo Chicken Tenders with Blue Cheese. They were perfect and it was a special recipe. It makes missing prime-time games out seem like not such a big deal! The Steelers recorded their record setting sack when they came out! It was a mediocre performance against a great snack! Mike brought Pabst Blue Ribbon Pounders, no beer for KGB this week! Dante had A&W Root Beer, which will be out moving forward! A&W is 0-2

My Stat of the week: Stat of the week is 70 straight games with a sack for the Steelers defense, the new record. Tyson Alualu nailed Josh Allen to keep the record streak going. It was a bright spot in a lousy game. The defense deserved better and while it wasn’t a great game, they played well enough. This also marks the third game the Steelers played in 12 days and you can see they were wearing down.

My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers need a big bounce back and they have another prime-time game against the division rival, Terrible Towel stomping Bengals. Look for a slow start and the Steelers to put a second half whupping on them, giving everyone a breather.

This week’s Jersey: Cam Heyward, #97 Away Jersey, He is the heart and soul of the defense and he played great last night pushing Mitch Morse all over the field and causing the Bills’ first turnover.

The offense could never get going, the defense wore down and costly mistakes combined with injuries snapped the Steelers 11 game winning streak. It was a terrible day for the offense, going three an out on the first two possessions and never finding a way to convert on short yardage situations. After taking a 14-point lead, they could never again get it on track again.

Ben Roethlisberger was off target most of the night and the receivers, specifically Eric Ebron and Diontae Johnson had some big drops. The inconsistency of not being able to run the ball also played a major factor in the loss. The Steelers had FIVE shots at converting a short yardage goal line situation and could not do it. Leaving points on the field.

This played heavily in the last big drive of the game, with the Steelers tied and in position to take the lead, they opted to go on fourth and one, instead of trying a Field Goal. For whatever reason, the offense went with a deep pass to Anthony McFarland. Roethlisberger missed McFarland and the Steelers left Washington in position to win the game. They did just that. Roethlisberger had one more shot at coming back but a tipped pass turned into an interception all but ending the game. Benny Snell finished with a paltry five yards on eight carries. The Steelers finished with just 21 yards on the ground. It was a forgettable night. James Washington was the only bright spot racking up two catches for 80 yards and a touchdown.

The defense finally broke and lost two key contributors, Robert Spillane and Joe Haden. Both factored huge in the loss. With Spillane out, Vince Williams was forced into coverage and he was exposed badly, getting beaten on several swing passes to J.D. McKissic. With Haden out, Cam Sutton gave up the key third down conversion to Cam Sims in the fourth quarter that setup the go-ahead field goal. Washington had very little room to run but sloppy tackling was again a factor in the game.

One game without Bud Dupree and the pressure up front suffered. T.J. Watt played well, and he made several plays, but Alex Highsmith was never really a factor.  Avery Williamson led the team in tackles but still looks like a work in progress. Tyson Alualau, Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt played well and Tuitt registered a sack, Washington could only garnered 40+ yards on the ground.

The special teams after getting back on track, again had a terrible day and looks once again to be a liability. Chris Boswell was out, so the Steelers “relied” on first year kicker Matthew Wright. Wright converted his only chance and both extra point tries, but it was clear the team did not have confidence in him. Ray-Ray McCloud fumbled for the second week in a row and any momentum he had over the start of the season looks lost. Marcus Allen was called with a questionable roughing the punter. It was a lousy performance all around.

The Steelers for the first time in 2020 have got to come back after a tough loss. A loss that could have easily been a win. It will be interesting to see how this team responds next week against a very tough team.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: T.J. Watt he was on fire for most of the game and finished with six tackles a sack and a forced fumble. Also Considered: James Washington who had two catches for 80 yards.

Where I watched the game: We watched at my Father’s house and got a little bit of a late start because of the early kickoff. We brought in Pizza from a new place and the beer of choice was BluePoint Winter Lager. The beer was good, the pizza was okay. No KGB Snacks…

My Stat of the week: The Steelers are 109-2-1 when leading by 14 points at any point in a game. The two losses were the Chargers and now the Washington Football Team.

Personal Stat: This was the first time I have missed the Washington Football team playing the Steelers in person in over 10 years! It is a strange fact and not sure why but have attended the last four meetings in both stadiums.

My Thoughts on next week: Look for a big bounce back against a tough Bills team. The feeling was the Steelers would drop one of these two games. I would expect a much bigger performance next week.

This week’s Jersey: James Harrison, #92 Throwback, this was wishful thinking because there were rumors the Steelers might bring Harrison back as a situational pass rusher. He is a Beer We Go favorite and would like to see him rewrite his last chapter with the Steelers.

It was late, it wasn’t pretty and at times it was downright awful, but the Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens and swept the depleted team after three postponements. It was a breakdown on almost all fronts, in an effort that Coach Tomlin called “junior varsity”.

The good was the Steelers beat a bitter rival and still control the division, behind an adequate defensive performance against a ragtag squad of backups and practice squad players that the Covid infested Ravens could put together. The bad they made several key mistakes and had breakdowns on offense and specifically on special teams.

The receiving crew which is arguably the team’s strength had a complete and total meltdown during the game. Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ray-Ray McCloud and Eric Ebron combined for several drops and three fumbles, with McCloud’s coming on special teams and leading to the Raven’s first touchdown. It was hard for Ben Roethlisberger to find any kind of rhythm, he had his challenges and the team never could get on track offensively.

Roethlisberger had a red zone turnover and didn’t see a wide-open Derek Watt for a sure Touchdown. The Steelers couldn’t effectively run the ball despite the many players missing from the Ravens. Benny Snell hung tough in his first start of the season. His numbers were pedestrian, but he effectively helped put the Ravens away with 68 very tough yards.

The Defense was not spectacular but did enough to win the game. Joe Haden had a pick six touchdown. T.J. Watt had a monster game with two sacks and was all over the Ravens backfield. The front seven bent but never broke to the Ravens running game. Two busted plays accounted for the majority of Baltimore’s yardage, a 70-Yard missed tackle pass caught by Marquise Brown and a 39-yard run by the ghost of Robert Griffin III. There was a level four Mondeaux sighting and he chipped in with two tackles. Steelhead Heyward had a one handed sack of RG III. The extremely bad news is that, late in the fourth quarter the Steelers lost Bud Dupree to injury and it looked like it was season ending.

After rebounding the special teams once again proved a near Achilles heel. Ray-Ray McCloud had the key fumble, that led to a Raven’s touchdown. Chris Boswell missed another extra point on the Haden’s interception touchdown. The return teams made several mistakes and kept the Steelers in tough field position all day.

They were lucky to pull this out and if it wasn’t for a miracle catch by James Washington who caught a Roethlisberger floater on the last drive, this would have been a very different week.

Despite poor play, the Steelers did enough to survive and now must focus on a very fast turnaround.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: This was tough because the performance was lousy but going with James Washington. Washington has made so many tough catches this year and his catch yesterday all but assured the victory. Also Considered: Benny Snell Jr. who crashed and bashed his way to 60 yards and helped close out the Ravens. T.J. Watt who cracked double digits in sacks for the third time in three seasons.

Where I watched the game: We were at the house and working during the game because of the odd time. The “Steel the other team’s snacks”, was on hold this week because of Thanksgiving and then because it was going to be Monday night and then because it was in the middle of the damn week in the middle of the damn day. KGB made everyone an individual chip plate with Guacamole and Ghost Pepper dip. Dante had his White-Rock Root Beer!

My Stat of the week: The Steelers are now 5-6 on Wednesdays and have played the second most times on Wednesday, 11 times, trailing only the Detroit Lions who have played 13. Honorable mention is FIVE, the amount of games back, the Ravens are now mathematically eliminating them from winning the division!

My Thoughts on next week: Quoting the words of Admiral Ackbar again, “It’s a Trap” the sequel! The Steelers now have the unenviable task of again playing a quasi-matinee on Monday against a team that is fighting for its life. The Steelers have a tough game the following week against a game Buffalo Bills squad. The Steelers need to play much better and not let teams like this hang around too long.

This week’s Jersey: Rod Woodson #26, Home Black, This is not a throwback Jersey, this is my actual jersey, the first I bought when I got a few dollars in my pocket. It also was my Turkey Bowl gamer, that I wear during the annual Turkey Bowl, which had to be cancelled this year.