The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped the NFL Opener 28-21 to the World Champion New England Patriots. The Steelers needed a perfect performance to beat the Patriots but succumbed to several mistakes and missed several opportunities. The game was winnable but the Steelers let it get away.
The offense looked good for most of the game, it was a great night for the running game as DeAngelo Williams put together an outstanding performance gashing the Pats for 127 yards on the ground. Will Johnson one of the “BWG FIVE” chipped in with a short yardage touchdown. The twin fullback formation was fun to watch for old school fans, as the Steelers punched them in the mouth on both plays, it was employed. Antonio Brown had his usual terrific performance racking up over 100 yards and a touchdown. Markus Wheaton and Darrius Heyward-Bay had good nights as well, putting up over a hundred yards between them.
However, several key “mistakes” cost the Steelers the victory. DHB stepped out of bounds on a touchdown pass, the Offensive line, which played well, had a key false start penalty on goal line that cost the Steelers a shot at a touchdown. Josh Scobee missed two big field goals that in the end would have been a huge help.
Where the coaching and Big Ben have to take some heat is how badly, the Steelers mangled the clock. They just didn’t seem to have any sense of urgency and they were literally moving the ball at will. They would have had a shot to get back in this if they played a little smarter as well. You can’t trade field goals for touchdowns and the Steelers really made some key errors that caused that. Not to mention you can’t miss the field goals you are settling for.
The defense was a work in progress all night. The Steelers never stuck to the game plan of jamming Rob Gronkowski and they paid the price. Brady connected with Gronk on THREE TD’s. The secondary had trouble all night containing Julian Edelman and they looked like they were lost at times. Some of the lowlights included, having only ten men on the field in one series, Antwon Blake and Will Allen seemed confused on the first Gronk touchdown, with both men being out of position. Having Terrance Garvin cover Gronk on goal line was just moronic. The Steelers needed to have better coverage on 3rd down.
The defense is going to get ripped in the national media this week. But that wasn’t the story if you watched the game, they made several mistakes and didn’t have a great night. But if they played a better game, which they were very capable of, they would have won. The front seven did well and again looks like it could be special. Jarvis Jones and Bud Dupree both had very solid games. Silverback and Arthur Moats played steady. Silverback was held on nearly every play, WATCH the tape, and trust me you will see it. The secondary is the weak link but again there were signs that they could pull out of this.
Of course it wouldn’t be a Patriots game without some skullduggery and of course the Steelers Coaches had trouble with the headsets for most of the first half. While it certainly didn’t cause the loss, I am sure it didn’t help.
The Steelers would have really set themselves up right by knocking off the champs, instead they will have to wonder, what if?
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!!!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: I am going with DeAngelo Williams, the stats speak for themselves. He had a huge night and the Steelers didn’t miss Le’Veon Bell at all, which is saying something. Also Considered: Antonio Brown, who literally could have won this award every week last season. Of Course, Will Johnson who did a great job on goal line.
Where I watched the game: At Buckley’s Irish Pub, for the first half with KGB and the usual cast of characters at Buckley’s. We had a terrific spread put together by “Bengals” Josh the chef. We had Baked Clams, Boneless Wings (Teriyaki Bomb and Buffalo) and Irish Spring rolls. We finished out at the house. The beer of choice was Guinness for me and KGB had an Irish coffee with Jameson and Baileys. John the bartender did a great job!
My Stat of the week: 21 for 127 for those doing the match that is 6.0 yards per carry.
My thoughts on Next Week: The Steelers play an interesting 49ers team in the ‘Burgh home opener. Look for a strong rebound game! KGB doesn’t know it yet, but inviting a bunch of people over and she is cooking “Snacks”. She loves reading it in the blog instead of hearing it from me. 🙂
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