It was throwback jerseys and throwback football for the Pittsburgh Steelers, as they continued their climb into relevancy with a tough win over the Los Angeles Rams. It was a stout defense and an offense that did just enough to pull out a victory against the NFC Champs.
Great defense starts up front and the Steelers front seven controlled the line of scrimmage. While Aaron Donald gets the headlines, Cam Heyward is just as big a force in his own right. He absolutely torched the Rams offensive line and was all over the backfield. He dominated with a sack, two passes defended and three quarterback hurries, while he was held on almost every play. T.J. Watt followed suit with a huge game, contributing two more sacks and five tackles. Mark Barron led the team with 10 tackles and Javon Hargrave chipped in with seven tackles and one sack.
As good as the front seven was, the secondary was even better. Joe Haden played his best game of the year, he had seven tackles and an interception, he also made the play that led to Minkah Fitzpatrick game ending interception. Fitzpatrick had the biggest play of the day, returning a questionable fumble for a touchdown. Terrell Edmunds broke up a Jared Goff play on the second to last drive to preserve the Steelers lead, he was second on the team in tackles with eight.
The offense is a borderline disaster right now. Mason Rudolph, played okay, he didn’t get a lot of help. The running game was non-existent and the offensive line, which was reconfigured for this game, did very little in way of opening lanes. The receivers continue to be a work in progress. They made some nice plays but had several dropped passes. James Washington, caught a fade route for a Touchdown, but had a big fumble that negated a huge play. Rudolph finished with 242 yards going 22 for 38.
Give Mike Tomlin credit, he made several gutsy calls that put the Steelers into position to win the game, none bigger than the fourth and 1 play call from the Steelers 34. It was a big move and showed faith in the troubled offense.
Read every weeks blog to discuss how lousy the refs have been!
It is a fast turnaround as the Steelers head to Cleveland this week!
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Joe Haden, he played his best game of the year and was the catalyst of two of the biggest plays of the game. Also Considered: Minkah Fitzpatrick, who had the clinching interception and has been a huge difference maker.
Where I watched the game: Heinz Field Baby, with KGB and the Tailgate Kids (Including Little Miss Tailgate from College, More to come on that.). We met a ton of great people and it was an amazing experience! The Beer of Choice was IC Light for the Tailgate and Miller Lite inside Heinz Field. KGB also bought the VIP package and we participated in the on-field activities, including the Terrible Towel unfurl and the alumni dinner. (More to come on that.)
My Stat of the week: One Interception, by Trey Edmunds who now has more interceptions than his brothers, Steelers Safety, Terrell Edmunds and Buffalo Bills Linebacker, Tremaine Edmunds.
My Thoughts on next week: As in this week, like two days. The Steelers could push the Browns off the cliff, with a big performance. The defense is hitting on all cylinders, they need the offense to protect the football.
This week’s Jersey: “Mean” Joe Greene, #75 Home Jersey, technically, I wouldn’t call it a throwback since I bought it in the 90’s. It is my gamer!
Little Miss Tailgate:
Hello everyone! Long-time no see! I cannot explain how happy I am that I was able to go this weekend due to my hectic school schedule. This year’s trip was most definitely one for the books. Travel wise the way in and out was smooth sailing for us. It was a solid six to seven hours in and a solid seven on the way out with not to much traffic. This year we stayed at the Hampton Inn on Smallman Street rather than the Homewood Suites. On Friday night after dropping our stuff off, we made our way over to Primanti Bros off the Strip District as our first meal in the Burgh where I had a Pittsburgher which was delicious as usual.
This year was different unlike the past years we’ve gone because KGB did a very good job by getting us alumni weekend packages. This weekend the Steelers hosted an alumni dinner event to celebrate forty years since the Steelers won Super Bowl XIV. We were able to take a tour of Heinz field, go to the alumni dinner with the actual players from the team, go on the field and watch the Steelers practice. We also got to participate in the Terrible Towel unfurl on the field. The dinner itself was fun to be at and a great experience all around.
The tour was pretty fun. I have never taken a tour of the field before or even been on it so that was a cool experience. We got to see the Steelers tunnel and the opposing team locker room and all the behind the scenes stuff like the “Man of Steel” plaque that they touch. We also saw the club seats and the suites that former players and some season ticket holders get which was pretty cool.
At the dinner, The players in attendance were “Mean” Joe Greene, Merril Hoge as the MC, Franco Harris, John Stallworth, Lynn Swann, Robin Cole, Rocky Bleier, the Rooney family, and many more. At the dinner, they had a jersey raffle where you could buy tickets to try and win. The Pomara’s took a bit of a gamble by only buying three tickets but low and behold we ended up winning two jerseys. We won Gerry Mullins and Dennis Winston.
The players I was able to meet were Merril Hoge, the Rooney’s, Rocky Bleier, and I said a quick hello to mean Joe Greene. The food was great and the overall experience was fun.
The on-field experience before the game was pretty awesome. We got to stand on the Rams sideline and watch the Steelers do their pregame drills. Juju came around and gave everyone high-fives and the coolest part was when Artie Burns finished a route he saw me on the sideline and threw me the ball. I ended up throwing it back to him and it was a good pass too so I was pretty proud of myself.
We also participated in the Terrible Towel Unfurl which was a fun experience to be a part of. We got to go on the field and hold the big terrible towel and shake it when everyone in the crowd is also waving their terrible towels and it was such a fun experience and I’m glad I got to do it.
The game itself was definitely a fun one to watch. It kept me on my toes all four quarters. With good plays by Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds helped us lead the team to a tight 17-12 victory over the Rams. Even though there were definitely ups and downs by both the offense and defense the overall game was a great one to see live. After the game, we headed straight over to Primanti Bros on Market Square for post-game sandwiches for our second to last meal in Pittsburgh. The next morning we had an early breakfast at the hotel and drove back. Then they dropped me off at school and had a heartfelt goodbye until Thanksgiving.
This trip will definitely go down in history as the best trip yet. The whole weekend was one to remember and these memories that I have made this weekend are ones that I will cherish forever. Special thank you to KGB for getting us these amazing ticket packages for this weekend and special thank you to my family for making it possible for me to come.
Until next time Root Beer We Go Steelers!
Little Miss Tailgate