The Seahawks outlasted the Steelers as Russell Wilson out gunned Ben Roethlisberger in a wild shoot out in Seattle. The loss leaves the Steelers on the outside looking in at the playoffs right now.
It was a rough day for the defense but especially the secondary who were absolutely torched by Wilson. The Seattle QB passed for 345 yards and five touchdowns, but the real issue was the secondary just didn’t tackle. Ross Cockrell had a horrible game, and was beat on several plays, Will Allen looked slow and was out of position on several key plays and the question has to come up again, what is up with Antwon Blake. He couldn’t tackle and he was out of position on several plays as well he had just had an awful game.
The defensive line kept a tough Seahawks running game mostly in check, and Cam Heyward had another great game. He had a sack and a huge blocked PAT. The pressure was okay but never great. The linebackers just couldn’t seem to get on track. Ryan Shazier came out with a concussion and they seemed off all day. Vince Williams did an excellent job, while he isn’t as good laterally as Shazier he was a thumper in the middle. Not enough big plays exposed a terrible secondary. I did like seeing Jarvis Jones and Bud Dupree together on the field and that looks like the next great combo for the Steelers, however they didn’t do enough Sunday.
Ben Roethlisberger had a very good day statistically as he attempted 55 passes — tied for third most in franchise history — and threw for 456 yards. He threw two interceptions, one that slipped from his hand and one that was completely bogus on a missed pass interference call when Richard Sherman pushed Antonio Brown to the ground. Big Ben left the game for the final series because he was tested for a concussion. Landry Jones came in again and had mixed results. He also threw a very questionable interception that the refs ruled on incorrectly.
The refs were atrocious AGAIN, missing several calls, and making several terrible calls. In this case you could clearly make a case that they altered the outcome of the game. I don’t want to blame the loss on the refs but they were again just awful!
Richard Sherman can claim “victory” as Antonio Brown had a quiet day, considering he got that extremely questionable interception, but the Steelers put up 490 yards passing and marched up and down the field on the “Legion of Boom”. Markus Wheaton had a MONSTER day racking up 9 catches for 200+ yards.
Mike Tomlin is getting grilled in the press for his “questionable” calls. All I can say is he coaches to win. Every call he made was justifiable and if the team executes he is a genius. Also I will say he absolutely has guts and the Steelers were one stop away from the upset of the week.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Was going to withold this because I was pissed about the result, but Markus Wheaton had disappeared for a few weeks and it was great to see what he can do, when called upon. Also Considered: Steel Head Heyward, who was outstanding.
Where I watched the game: Back at my house, we had Rigatoni in a Sicilian sauce, I cooked and KGB took mercy on me for the cleanup so I could watch he game. The Beer of choice was fantastic from the Pennsylvania Brewing Company, Noble Pils. I highly recommend it.
My Stat of the week: Ben has thrown and interception in five straight games. Two this week were converted to 14 points.
My thoughts on Next Week: The Steelers will beat the Colts in a shootout. But this is no pushover game. Look for the Colts to hang in there all game long.