Beer We Go Steelers

It was the familiar formula of getting behind early, but there would be no frantic comeback this time, as the Steelers were absolutely dominated by the Kansas City Chiefs…

What has happened to the Steelers? Three weeks after one of the worst losses in team history, the Steelers were once again dominated against a shorthanded Kansas City Chiefs team. When you get kicked off national television, for the Raiders, you have really reached a new low. The Steelers absolutely lost every facet of the game. The offense was horrendous, the defense was leaky and the special teams are an actual liability. 

It is near impossible to put into words how bad this team played. When your second string punter is the lone bright spot, Corliss Waitman, bombed two great punts, you know it was a bad day.

There is no way Matt Canada can come back next season. BWG never advocates for anyone to lose their job, but his play calling is horrendous and the execution is worst. Kansas City has arguably the best quarterback in the league and one of the best playmakers in football in Tyreek Hill, they were inside the 10, they ran the ball all three times. The Steelers have done nothing to build a better running game. I w

Najee Harris has been solid given what he has had to play with, he gets eviscerated every week when they try the four or five running plays to start the game. Of course they fall behind and then it is chuck it 50 times.

The Chiefs offense was a blueprint on how to play with some limitations, they executed every play well and nothing required an exceptional playmaker, something the Steelers do have.

It starts up front and the Steelers up front are terrible on both sides of the ball. What has happened to Kendrick Green? He is now a huge liability. On the defensive side of the ball, Cam Heyward is eating double and triple teams all game while everyone else gets dominated.

Here is the bright side, whether they make the playoffs or not, these next two weeks are must wins, they still have an outside shot at the division, but what is important is sweeping both the Ravens and the Browns now.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!   

My “GAME BEER” goes to: No one, literally no one played well yesterday. Only person I would have considered was Cam Heyward, who deserves so much better than this.

Beer of the Game: Sam Adams, Winter Lager, despite having a refrigerator full of beer, I went out and bought this, one of my favorites for this time of year, unfortunately the game was horrible, and you know what that means for this great beer…

“Steel the Snacks”: KGB’s snacks deserved better. In honor of KC, she made Burnt Ends Crostinis with mashed potatoes on the crostini, also homemade Cole Slaw. Absolutely phenomenal and one of our best snacks of the season.  

My Stat of the week:  ZERO, touchdowns in the 1^st half in the last five games, that is the first time that has happened since 1940… let that sink in a little, not only the first time in my lifetime, but the first in my father’s freakin’ lifetime. HORRIBLE, also a side note, 1^st team all-time to trail by 23+ points at halftime in three straight road games. (SOURCE: NBC Posted during the game)

My Thoughts on next week: Both the Steelers and Browns are reeling, and this had every bit the feeling of a playoff game. The Browns who were the media darling at the beginning of the season, have been an absolute disappointment. The Steelers can get a modicum of revenge because a Browns loss sends them home for the year. Every game is a must win now.

This week’s Jersey: Jack Ham, 59, Throwback (The Bumblebee), went with the legend to bring in some luck…again EPIC fail.

Thought this would be cool for readers, 30 Year’s ago today, the Emperor coaches his last game.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199112220pit.htm

Beating Bill Bellichick and figured I would share when he faced off with Lombardi.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/196910260pit.htm

The Steelers fell behind early, came back, then held off a Titan’s comeback! It was a familiar script, this time with a happy ending as the Steelers rallied back from a slow start and beat the Tennessee Titans 19-13. 

The defense was run over once again, and the Titans were able to control the clock and the line of scrimmage. Tennessee banged out 201 yards on the ground, led by D’Onta Foreman’s 108 yards. But they never broke and oddly enough pitched a second half shutout led by four turnovers, despite the atrocious run defense. 

T.J. Watt, playing with an injury and being held all game, managed to break the Steelers sack record. Cam Heyward also registered a sack while being doubled and tripled team. Taco Charlton had a huge play with a tip that was intercepted by Joe Schobert. Derek Tuszka chipped in with his first sack of the season, a game changing 8-yard sack late in the fourth quarter. For two weeks now, Devin Bush looks like he is finally coming around and chipped in with five tackles and a near interception.

It was a very big day for the secondary led by the return of Joe Haden and the excellent play of Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds. Haden made the biggest tackle of the day ending the Titans’ final drive and recovered a fumble. Minkah Fitzpatrick continues his reemergence with a monstrous 14 tackles and a fumble recovery. In what is likely his swan song with the Steelers, Terrell Edmunds had 10 tackles two for a loss on the day. Ryan Tannehill was held to 153 yards in the air.

The first half offense is non-existent, and the Steelers managed just three points in the first half and only 12 points off turnovers. The stats weren’t there in any aspect and it was pure grit that they were able to eek out the victory. Ben Roethlisberger had a gutsy and tough performance. He finished with a paltry 148 yards but he QB sneaked the Steelers only touchdown. Diontae Johnson led the team in catches with only five and he was nearly invisible all day. Pat Friermuth made a terrific catch while being knocked unconscious and was forced to leave the game with a concussion. Zack Gentry made a great catch and steam rolled the Titans for 17-yards, something the Steelers should employ again. The Steelers were only able to grab 35 yards on the ground.  

The special teams descent is horrific to watch. Pressley Harvin III is running out of runway here. He had a horrendous day including a 27 yarder and was never able to flip the field on the Titans. Chester Rogers ran back a punt back for 55 yards and the Steelers coverage unit was called for holding on the play. It was a debacle. Chris Boswell is still the lone bright spot as he hammered home four field goals and he nearly hit a bomb at the end of the first half with one second left.

As for coaching, the first half of the last slate of games has been dreadful, but something is happening at halftime that has helped Pittsburgh to second-half surges. That is a testament to strong coaching. The defensive staff made big adjustments and were able to shut out the Titans in the second half. The clock management is still lousy, and it cost the Steelers a first half score, as the Titans chewed the clock for almost the entire second quarter. A victory is a victory. 

Beer We Go Steelers, Beer We Go!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Ben Roethlisberger and T.J. Watt, both had historic days. Also Considered; Joe Haden, who made the game saving play, Taco Charlton who helped create a turnover, Chris Boswell who drilled four field goals, Derrek Tuszka who had a huge timely sack.

Beer of the Game: Went with Music City Light, which is the Nashville version of IC Light. Will explain later the choice. KGB went with Peroni which is a standby in our beer refrigerator. 

“Steel the Snacks”: We are swamped with the holidays “Steel the Snacks” was supposed to be Nashville Hot Chicken, one of KGB’s best and historically great snacks. We went with White Castle Hamburgers and pigs in the blanket with three kinds of mustard. Instead of stealing the snack, we stole their beer!  

My Stat of the week: Have to go with two this week… 63,562 for Ben Roethlisberger who passed Philip Rivers into 5th place on the all-time list. He will finish his career nestled comfortably there. The other is a Steelers record 17.5 sacks, the new Steelers record now held by T.J. Watt, eclipsing BWG all-time favorite James Harrison. Harrison posted a classy video congratulating Watt. 

My Thoughts on next week: Very tall order against Patrick Mahomes and the resurgent Chiefs. This is a very tough game on the road. The good news, the Steelers match up well and have had success against the division leaders. Every game is now a playoff game, and this is going to take a much bigger effort than the Steelers have shown so far.  

This week’s Jersey: Jerome Bettie, 36, Home Black, hoping to get the running game going. It didn’t work again, but we will take the win!

The Steelers frantic fourth quarter comeback fell short, as the Steelers fell to the Vikings.

The Steelers were absolutely dominated for 42 minutes and pushed around the field. It is hard to describe how poorly this team is playing right now. The score didn’t tell the story as the Steelers were smashed and gashed for the majority of the game, while Minnesota held off another spectacular late game if unfulfilled Steelers’ comeback.

The Steelers had no answers up front on either side of the ball. Led by Dalvin Cook and his bad shoulder, the Vikings cranked out an astounding 242 yards (144 by Cook in the first half) on the ground and a mind numbing 458 total yards while scoring 36 points (29 Points in the first half). The offensive line gave up five sacks two of which were legitimately scary for Ben Roethlisberger’s health and had created no room for the the bottled up Steelers running game.

Ben Roethlisberger had a solid game when he had time to throw and he spread the ball around hitting six different receivers for 308 yards, throwing three touchdowns. Roethlisberger was clobbered in the first three quarters, then put together a monster fourth quarter, and came within one pass to Pat Freiermuth, in the end zone as time expired, from authoring the greatest comeback in NFL history. The team needs to get off to a faster start, but Roethlisberger’s effort shouldn’t be lost.

The receivers had big games however, this will not be the story. Chase Claypool had a great game as far as performance, but he had a costly 15-yard penalty, and he was preening after a huge fourth down conversion that cost the Steelers valuable time in the fourth quarter. He also was sent to the bench by Tomlin after the penalty. Claypool led the team in catches with eight and yards with 93. Diontae Johnson is emerging into a world class receiver. He also made a huge play giving the Steelers one more chance at tying the game, getting out of bounds on a big catch. Johnson finished with five catches for 76 yards. James Washington benefited from Claypool’s indiscretion racking up a touchdown and 65 yards while substituting.

Najee Harris had 94 yards on the ground most of which came in the second half and 10 yards in the air and a touchdown. In a dismal season, he looks like a franchise running back.

The defensive front seven once the heart and strength of the Steelers, is now it’s greatest liability. The Steelers were without T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith for most of the game, and for the second time this season, the defense was held without a sack. Cam Heyward had to eat several double teams and Chris Wormley and Montravius Adams were pushed all over the field, after both having big games against the Ravens a week earlier.

The secondary struggled for the most part. Kirk Cousins put up 216 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 passes. Cam Sutton was roasted for a 62-Yard Touchdown to K.J. Osborn, which would be the deciding score. Ahkello Witherspoon had a solid performance with two interceptions in his second start of the year. The reemergence of Minkah Fitzpatrick continues.

The special teams are just plain terrible again. Chris Boswell missed a field goal attempt, his second of the season, Pressley Harvin had another mediocre night, including an absolute 31-yard stinker and there was a penalty on almost every single return last night. Awful night.

The season is all but over and now the Steelers need to figure out what rebuilding looks like. Both sides of the ball have talent, but seem to lack any consistency. The Steelers need to improve up front first and foremost, with ten days between games, this is the week to find out what they have.

Beer We Go Steelers, Beer We Go!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Ahkello Witherspoon, who chipped in with two interceptions and is finally seeing the field after being acquired in a trade early September. Also Considered; Najee Harris who looks like a franchise running back, putting up good numbers with a banged up line.

Beer of the Game: Went with Boxer Ale again, good beer like I said last week, lousy result this time. D-man had A&W Root Beer! KGB went with wine.

“Steel the Snacks”: The plan was Juicy Lucey Burgers to “Steel the Snacks” but we had Sausage and Peppers for dinner and a side of pasta made by KGB, food was delicious and filling.

My Stat of the week: Najee Harris’104 yards from scrimmage on Thursday night broke the Steelers rookie record for a season. Harris has 873 rushing yards and 397 receiving yards for 1,270 yards for scrimmage in 2021, bettering the 1,259 that Le’Veon Bell had for Pittsburgh in 2013, with four games to go.

My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers will have ten days and Mike Tomlin assured everyone that “We’ll turn over every stone…” as they battle the Titans. There are so many holes in this team right now.

This week’s Jersey: Ernie Stautner, 70 Home Black, the Father of Steelers toughness, it wasn’t much help.

The Steelers had to have it and they got it, beating the hated rival Ravens in a classic Pittsburgh -Baltimore matchup that featured John Harbaugh trying to pull the win out of the jaws of defeat with a late two point try that came up short. The offense and defense both struggled and also looked brilliant at times.

If this is indeed Ben Roethlisberger’s last home game against the Ravens, he went out in style. Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a huge fourth quarter garnishing 17 points. He orchestrated the no huddle offense and kept the Ravens off balance and delivered when it was needed most. He finished with 236 yards and two touchdowns including the game winning five-yard strike to Diontae Johnson and the two-point conversion to Pat Freiermuth. It was a great bounce back during a week where it was leaked that he will be retiring at the end of the season.

Diontae Johnson is becoming the Steelers best offensive weapon. After dropping a touchdown on a perfectly placed Roethlisberger pass, he rebounded and finished with 105 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. He led the team in catches with eight. Najee Harris also had a solid game, grinding out 71 very tough yards and contributing with five catches. Chase Claypool continues to be a big play threat and hauled in a forty-yard catch.

The defense had an uneven day. The bad news is they gave up a ton of yards including letting Baltimore dominate the clock with a 99-yard, 16 play drive that ate up 10+ minutes. The Ravens converted 8-16 third downs including a 3^rd and 14 on the final drive. Their offense is plodding and slow, but they seemed to have the Steelers number most of the day. The good news though the defense seemed to have a good plan against Lamar Jackson.

Chris Wormley saved the best game of his career for his former team, registering 2.5 sacks and he helped generate a ton of pressure. T.J.Watt posted a monster day of 3.5 sacks after being on the Covid list earlier in the week. He also was key in stopping the would be game winning two- point conversion. It was clear that despite his success, Jackson was nervous about Watt. Alex Highsmith continues to evolve and made two tackles for losses. The unsung star of the game was Montravius Adams, who became a Steeler less than a week ago, Adams set the point of attack and gave everyone more room to work. He finished with two tackles and will absolutely see more playing time.

The secondary played well, Minkah Fitzpatrick is starting to become a playmaker again and he ended the Ravens first drive of the game with an interception in the red zone. Fitzpatrick led the team in tackles. Ahkello Witherspoon did a very nice job as Joe Haden’s replacement and should supplant James Pierre for good. He chipped in five tackles and nearly picked off Jackson on a long play to Mark Andrews, who had been roasting the Steelers all day.

The Special teams continued their up and down season. You can write the same thing every week, except for Chris Boswell, who for the first time had a terrible game Sunday. He did drill a 50+ yard field goal, but inexplicably missed a game tying extra point by a mile and then blasted the final kickoff of the game out of bounds setting the Ravens up on the 40-Yard line for their last drive. He also pooched a kick after missing the extra point that Devin Duvernay ran back for 38-yards setting the Ravens up for a field goal. Pressley Harvin bombed a textbook 64-yard punt that pinned the Ravens on their own goal line…then stunk up the field the rest of the day, including a 25-yard disaster when the Steelers needed him. There is no return game to speak of with this team.

The game was terribly over officiated, and the bad calls were rampant. The good news was it didn’t affect the outcome of the game.

Give Mike Tomlin and the coaching staff credit. This was a must win game and they had the game plan to make that happen. Keith Butler rebounded nicely after being torched two weeks in a row, they made some good adjustments to keep Lamar Jackson in check. The coaching staff seemed to have found some much needed help on both sides of the ball.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Going with the upset here and picking John Leglue the fourth string guard who was a road grader yesterday. It was the most push I have seen the line get in three years and he had the answer in almost every protection scheme. Also Considered: Chris Wormley who showed up big against his former team. T.J. Watt who had a huge game and Diontae Johnson who scored the game winner.

Beer of the Game: Boxer Ice, “The beer of champions” KGB and I brought this back from Pittsburgh where we bought it at a sketchy Beer Distributor. It is brewed in Wisconsin and despite being a cheap beer, it was good and heartily drinkable.

“Steel the Snacks”: When you play Baltimore, you have to “Steel” crab cakes. We went with Crab Cake sliders on a pretzel roll. One of KGB’s best snacks, we grabbed the crab cakes from our local pub and KGB fried them up and served them on fresh baked pretzel rolls.

My Stat of the week:  30- Matchups between Mike Tomlin’s v. John Harbaugh the third most in NFL history. Tomlin now holds the edge 16-14. It is also the most matchups of two head coaches during the Super Bowl Era. (Also considered Ben Roethlisberger is now 16-10 all time against the Ravens!)

My Thoughts on next week: VERY SHORT TURNAROUND. The Steelers play the Minnesota Vikings Thursday night. Of the Steelers remaining games, this is the most winnable, the Vikings will be gunning for blood after losing to the Lions.

This week’s Jersey: Jack Lambert, 58, Home Black, had to go back to the legends to bring in some luck!