The Steelers responded to a week of controversy by pummeling the Baltimore Ravens. Led by running back Le’Veon Bell’s breakout performance of 144 yards and two touchdowns the Steelers beat the Ravens 26-9 and have taken sole possession of first place.
While the offense again showed flashes of what can be, the defense rebounded nicely from the Chicago debacle, dominating the Ravens woeful offense. The Steelers had two interceptions and four sacks and held the Ravens to single digit scoring. It was a monster game for Cam Heyward who had two of the sacks and a forced fumble. Stephon Tuitt returned, with a sack, and allowed Heyward to run all over the backfield. Ryan Shazier had an interception and was dominant sideline to sideline, leading the team with 11 tackles. The Ravens rushed for only 82 Yards with 72 yards coming on two plays, other wise there was no room to run. Mike Hilton chipped in with an interception.
The offensive game plan was to run the ball first and then open up the passing game. The plan was executed extremely well using a number of plays with six offensive linemen. Alejandro Villanueva absolutely negated Terrell Suggs who finished the game with one tackle.
The offense finished with 173 yards rushing, most since they had 240 last season in Buffalo, and averaged 4.1 yards per carry. Ben Roethlisberger is still a work in progress, however he played much better this week. He orchestrated a 10 1/2 minute drive to open the game and threw a touchdown to JuJu Smith-Schuster and converted several third downs. He threw one interception on a ridiculous call by the refs. Antonio Brown had a temper tantrum on the sideline but cobbled together four catches for 34 yards. Martavis Bryant led the team with 48 yards receiving.
The coaches deserve some credit here, after a huge letdown in Chicago and a week of controversy. It was a great bounce back effort given all of the distractions. The Steelers had a great game plan on both sides of the ball and were able to dominate a division rival.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: We have to go with Le’Veon Bell who ran the ball 35 times for 144 yards and caught four passes for 42 yards. Also, considered: Cam Heyward for a great defensive effort. Alejandro Villanueva for absolutely punishing Terrell Suggs.
Where I watched the game: At the house with the “Tailgate Kids” after we threw the ball around before the game. KGB was traveling for business, so I was home with the kids. We had stuffed Garlic Knots for our snack and Italian Beef, which I made in the crock pot. I got the recipe from our trip to Chicago. As for Beer, I went with Leinekugel Harvest Patch Shandy, but only had two since I was on Dad duty.
My Stat of the week: 173 Yards rushing, that is a dominant performance on the ground, with Le’Veon Bell garnering 35 of them, the most by any running back against the Ravens in 14 seasons.
My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers return home against a tough and game Jaguars team. These are the games that the Steelers need to win and seldom do. Look for this to be close with the Steelers pulling it out.
This week’s Jersey: My Birthday gift! A TJ Watt home jersey, it seemed to have the reverse affect as he came back from injury!