The Steelers started slow and never really got it going against the Eagles, falling 27-13.
MORE TO COME
The Steelers started slow and never really got it going against the Eagles, falling 27-13.
MORE TO COME
Posted in BWG Reporting | Comments (0)
The Steelers started slow then revved the engine and helped eliminate the Browns officially from the playoffs with a 27-14 victory Sunday. There was nothing spectacular but when the Steelers needed to make plays, they did.
The offense was slow to get out of the gate. Russell Wilson eventually got it going showcasing his efficiency, completing 15 passes to nine different receivers, leading the Steelers to victory despite the absence of star wideout George Pickens.
The offense initially struggled, with three three-and-outs in the first half and Wilson managing just 46 passing yards. However, he ignited in the second half, culminating in 158 yards. The opening drive of the second half epitomized his resurgence, as he went 4-for-5 for 46 yards, culminating in a 10-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson.
While not his most prolific performance, Wilson maintained a 101.1 quarterback rating, marking his fifth game out of seven starts with a rating exceeding 100.
While lacking in explosive plays beyond an early 20-yard run by Najee Harris, the ground game effectively churned out yards, accumulating 120 rushing yards by game’s end. Harris led the charge with 53 yards and a touchdown, while Jaylen Warren contributed 47 yards on nine carries.
Ten days after surrendering three sacks to Browns defensive end Myles Garrett in Cleveland, Dan Moore Jr. provided significantly better protection for Russell Wilson, limiting Garrett’s impact for most of the game. While Garrett did record the Browns’ lone sack, it occurred late in the game and had little consequence. He was a non-factor throughout the contest.
Steelers’ Keanu Benton had his first career pick, intercepting a screen pass and returning it for a significant gain, it set up a Steelers’ touchdown. Defensive anchor Cam Heyward continued his dominant season, adding two more sacks to his impressive tally (now at eight).
Alex Highsmith returned to the lineup after his injury absence and recorded a sack. The Steelers rotated three outside linebackers extensively. T.J. Watt contributed four tackles and two quarterback hurries. Patrick Queen led the linebackers with10 tackles and a pass breakup, while Elandon Roberts’ crucial fourth-down tackle for a five-yard loss near midfield in the third quarter set the Steelers up for victory.
It was a nice bounce back week for Joey Porter Jr. who limited Jerry Jeudy under 100 yards passing.
Special teams coverage units were leaky again. But the kicking game is arguably the best in the NFL. Chris Boswell continues to solidify his status as the NFL’s premier kicker. Against the Browns, he extended his impressive season, adding two more field goals to his tally, bringing his season record to 36 of 39. His 54-yarder late in the second quarter proved crucial, giving the Steelers a 13-7 lead heading into halftime.
Beyond Boswell’s excellence, Corliss Waitman once again put together a big game. He averaged an impressive 53.2 yards per punt, pinning the Browns deep. His booming punt late in the game forced a Kadarius Toney fumble, which was recovered by soon to be folk hero Ben Skowronek, marking Skowronek’s second fumble recovery of the season.
The Steelers avenged their controversial loss.
BEER WE GO, STEELERS BEER WE GO.
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Anyone who follows this blog, knew this was going to Keeanu Benton for his interception. When the big boys get the football, they get the beer of the game. Also Considered: Joey Porter Jr. and Dan Moore Jr. had redemption games. Both gave up one play then stifled the Browns.
Beer of the Game: RUN IT BACK I went with Yuengling Flight, which is awesome and light. KGB went with Harpoon Holiday Ale, the very full-bodied winter beer again.
“Steel the Snacks”: No Steel the snacks last week. We usually don’t repeat snacks for divisional games and the jerky schedule put the Browns in town just ten days since the Steelers last saw them. KGB went with a Mortadella Sandwich and left over brick oven white pizza with meatballs.
My stat of the week: Two weeks ago, I used ZERO as the stat, the number of times Mike Tomlin has won a Thursday division road game. Today we also use Zero as in the number of times the Steelers have lost to the Browns in Pittsburgh during the regular season on Coach Tomlin. Steelers have dominated since Tomlin took over as coach at home. The Browns got a bunch of “help” Thursday. The Steelers weren’t going to leave this one in doubt.
My thoughts on next week: “The Battle of Pennsylvania” as the Steelers head to their interstate rivals in Philadelphia. Most important thing here is to make sure no one gets injured, and this could put the NFL on notice that the Steelers success is not a fluke. Consider the Eagles manhandled the Eagles.
Jersey of the Week: L.C. Greenwood, #68 1933 Throwback Jersey, L.C. deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Posted in BWG Reporting | Comments (0)
The Steelers outdueled the Bengals 44-38.
It was an old-fashioned shootout with one of the best Quarterbacks in the NFL getting outdueled by a legendary gun slinger! The Steelers beat Joe Burrow and the Bengals, 44-38 behind the herculean effort of Russell Wilson.
With his 36th birthday not far in the rearview mirror, Russell Wilson put on a vintage performance from his glory days as a Super Bowl Champ. He absolutely torched the Bengals secondary and put-up monster numbers. Wilson finished with 414 yards, three touchdowns and one non-sensical interception, that the refs completely missed pass interference on. It was the most yards by a Steelers quarterback in four years and the most points since 2018.
Speaking of vintage performances, Cam Heyward had his best game of the season as well, which is saying something. Heyward dominated up front and set the point of attack. He had five tackles, one of which leveled Chase Brown, he sacked Burrow and deflected a pass that was picked off by Donte Jackson. The Bengals had one drive where they did the majority of their running after that it was all over for the running game.
T.J. Watt broke his “dry-spell” he had two sacks and three tackles all for a loss. He added a strip sack that changed the momentum of the game. He was held all game and battled through. Nick Herbig had a strip sack in the fourth quarter and dominated Orlando Brown Jr., the refs again missed several penalties on Brown Jr. who should have been flagged for several false starts, CBS even highlighted the missed calls especially on one of the Bengals scoring drives.
Patrick Queen had a very good game, except for one series, he finished with nine tackles. DeShon Elliot led the team with 11 tackles. Joey Porter Jr. had a touch day and was flagged four times.
The offense had all the answers on Sunday. Wilson’s dominant performance was powered by spreading the ball around. Antonio Brown Jr…. sorry must have been an AI typo, George Pickens had a monster game and continues to do silly and immature things. He dropped a ball on a Bengals player after a first down that cost the Steelers 15 yards and he pretended to shoot off a gun, another 15-yard penalty after another first down that put the Steelers inside the red zone. He was lucky he didn’t get sent out of the game. Pickens finished with three catches and 74 yards with a touchdown. Pat Freiermuth added touchdown and Arthur Smith is starting to find ways to get him more involved in the game. Calvin Austin III torched the Bengals secondary and unfortunately left the game with concussion like symptoms, that was also missed by the refs. How about Ben Skowronek and Darnell Washington making plays and absolutely pushing the Bengals all over the field.
Najee Harris had solid workmanlike performance, rushing for 75 tough yards, and grabbing six catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. The Steelers finished the day with 110 yards including the game clinching seven yard run by Justin Fields.
The special teams’ coverages were lousy again, but the kicking game was solid as always. Chris Boswell had a field goal blocked but hit his three other chances and Corliss Waitman did an excellent job on his only punt opportunity, he pinned the Bengals on the 11.
The refs were horrible and inconsistent all game.
The coaching staff had the right game plan to beat the Bengals and it showed.
BEER WE GO, STEELERS BEER WE GO.
My “GAME BEER” goes to: This is a hard one to pick, going with Russell Wilson who threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns. Also Considered: Nick Herbig for another strip sack, Donte Jackson for the big interception. Cam Heyward who was absolutely a monster all game! His stats do not show it, but Ben Skowronek is going to become a Steelers fan favorite with his physical play.
Beer of the Game: Tried Yuengling Flight, very good beer and low in calories. KGB went with Harpoon Holiday Ale, a very full-bodied winter beer.
“Steel the Snacks”: KGB crushed this one. We went with Skyline Chili a Cincinnati staple over spaghetti. Putting Chili on spaghetti is sacrilegious to me but we went with. It was outstanding and of course the snacks worked their magic.
My stat of the week: There are so many to choose from but one I think is important, last week I hit on Mike Tomlin’s lack of success on Thursday night road divisional games. Let us look at one of Coach Tomlin’s biggest triumphs, he has lost back-to-back road divisional games exactly one time in his entire illustrious career. Let that synch in for a minute. Also considered, the Steelers score 44 points, the most points since 2018! How about zero as in the amount of plays Trey Hendrickson the NFL sack leader made, where he was nearly “stoned” by Dan Moore, recording exactly one tackle. Lastly the Steelers-Bengals scored the most points combined this season in any NFL game. AFC North teams doing that has to surprise everyone. How about Russell Wilson hitting TEN different receivers?
My thoughts on next week: The Steelers will have their fourth straight divisional game, this week the Browns come to Pittsburgh. This is a revenge game, and the Steelers need to finish the Browns off this time after letting them off the hook just about two weeks ago.
Jersey of the Week: Rod Woodson, #26 Home Black, this one has a very special meaning to me. My first Steelers jersey was my Dad’s Terry Bradshaw jersey. Rod was the first Steelers jersey I bought myself. (BTW this began the jersey curse) The pandemic ended our Turkey Bowl for good in 2020, this was always my turkey bowl jersey from 1995-2019.
Posted in BWG Reporting | Comments (0)