Steelers started strong and held off a mad ending to beat the Vikings in Dublin!<\/p>\n
The Steelers held on for an ugly, but ultimately rewarding, 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland, advancing to 3-1. A few head-scratching coaching decisions nearly turned a comfortable romp into a near-disaster thanks to two highly questionable late-game decisions by Mike Tomlin.<\/p>\n
While the defense deserves full credit for closing it out, this game should have been a three-score blowout\u2014a testament to the Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of this team.<\/p>\n
Mike Tomlin had a rough day. Two calls put a game in jeopardy that should have been over in the 3rd<\/sup> quarter. First, with a chance to go up by 13 with just under four minutes left, he opted to keep the offense on the field for 4th-and-Goal from the 3-yard line.<\/p>\n That was a gutsy call, but if you\u2019re trying to drop the hammer on them, you absolutely must put the ball in Aaron Rodgers\u2019 hands and look for DK Metcalf or Darnell Washington. Instead, the team ran Kenneth Gainwell into a brick wall, resulting in a turnover on downs and a momentum swing. The second, and more egregious, decision came later: punting on 4th-and-1 from the Vikings\u2019 45-yard line with 1:08 left. Taking a penalty is inexcusable. A first down ends the game. To take a delay of game and punt\u2014trusting a defense that had been on the field too long over a one-yard conversion\u2014is ludicrous.<\/p>\n After three weeks of a non-existent run game, the Steelers finally showed a pulse on the ground, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. The answer, at least for one game, was big personnel. Arthur Smith used an extra offensive lineman, Spencer Anderson, and put Darnell Washington to work as a blocker, opening up some running lanes.<\/p>\n Kenneth Gainwell, filling in for an injured Jaylen Warren, had a breakout game with 19 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns, adding 6 catches for 35 yards. His patience was excellent, and his success on first down was absolutely crucial, keeping the Vikings out of their exotic third-down blitz packages. Rookie Kaleb Johnson also saw his most extensive action and looked solid.<\/p>\n Aaron Rodgers was surgical early, staking the Steelers to a big lead. He finished an efficient 18-for-22 for 200 yards and a touchdown, continuing to be great in situational football. He\u2019s not putting up monster numbers, but the team is 3-1 without playing their best football.<\/p>\n DK Metcalf was the primary beneficiary of a good early plan, logging 122 of his 126 yards by halftime, including a beautiful 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown off an Arthur Smith motion package. Unfortunately, the passing game dried up in the second half, and the tight ends remain an afterthought\u2014Darnell Washington led the group with 20 yards, while Pat Freiermuth had zero<\/em> catches. Even worse, Calvin Austin III left the game with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter, putting more pressure on Roman Wilson to step up next time out.<\/p>\n The offensive line\u2019s run blocking took a huge step forward, but the pass protection remains leaky. The interior line, specifically Isaac Seumalo, gave up a crucial sack just before halftime that forced the team to settle for a blocked field goal, leaving points on the field.<\/p>\n This was the first time this season the Steelers held an opponent under 100 rushing yards (70 yards on 20 carries), and the defensive line deserves praise. Keeanu Benton, a lightning rod for criticism in the first three weeks, had his best game by far with four tackles and 1.5 sacks. Cam Heyward continues to be an All-Pro presence, tipping a pass at the line that led to a T.J. Watt interception\u2014the second time in as many weeks he\u2019s done that.<\/p>\n The linebacking corps was phenomenal. Payton Wilson led the team with 13 tackles, none bigger than his shoestring tackle of Jordan Addison late in the fourth quarter that prevented a touchdown and forced the Vikings to bleed precious clock time. Patrick Queen was almost as good with 11 tackles and a sack. Nick Herbig continues to be a star in the making, adding 1.5 sacks and forcing an intentional grounding on the Vikings\u2019 final drive, the guy simply capitalizes on his opportunities.<\/p>\n With all the injuries the patchwork secondary woes continue. While they closed the game out, the mental errors and communication breakdowns were a serious challenge. The miscommunication between Darius Slay Jr. and Chuck Clark that allowed Addison\u2019s 81-yard catch-and-run nearly cost them the game. They need the bye week to get healthy and iron out these inexcusable mental lapses.<\/p>\n Special Teams had an up and down day. Gainwell and Trey Sermon averaged 25 yards per kickoff return, showing significant improvement on a previously struggling unit. Corliss Waitman averaged 48 yards per punt. Waitman\u2019s final punt should have been pinned inside the 20 but went through the end zone. Pat Freiermuth completely whiffed on his block, leading to Chris Boswell\u2019s first field goal attempt getting blocked. Boswell later drilled a clutch 33-yarder.<\/p>\n Given the teams history, the Steelers had to leave Ireland with a victory. They did<\/p>\n BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!<\/strong><\/p>\n My \u201cGAME BEER\u201d goes to:<\/strong> Payton Wilson.<\/strong> His shoestring tackle was the biggest play of the game, saving a guaranteed touchdown late in the fourth and forcing the Vikings into a more time-consuming drive. That\u2019s a game-winning play that often gets lost in the shuffle. Also Considered:<\/strong> Kenneth Gainwell (for stepping up huge in the run game), Nick Herbig (The sack machine, just give him the snaps!), and Cam Heyward (still putting on a Hall of Fame show).<\/p>\n Beer of the Game:<\/strong> We went with Guinness of course. KGB and I have been to Dublin a few times now and Guinness is always a stop on the tour. It was creamy, solid, and hearty\u2014just like a good Steelers defensive stop.<\/p>\n \u201cSteel the Snacks\u201d:<\/strong> This would probably qualify as more Steel Snacks than Steel the Snacks. KGB made a classic Irish Breakfast with eggs, beans, Tomato and three kinds of sausage,<\/p>\n My stat of the week:<\/strong> 131: That\u2019s the rushing yards for the Steelers in this game, a vast improvement over the first three weeks and a sign that the ground game may finally be found.<\/p>\n My thoughts on next week:<\/strong> The bye week is perfectly timed. This team needs to rest the wounded (Warren, Highsmith, Austin) and use the time to correct some of the issues that continue to plague the team. Then the Cleveland Browns, come to Pittsburgh, and after their Week 4 performance, this is a must-win to establish dominance in the AFC North.<\/p>\n Jersey of the Week:<\/strong> NO JERSEY again this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Steelers started strong and held off a mad ending to beat the Vikings in Dublin! The Steelers held on for an ugly, but ultimately rewarding, 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland, advancing to 3-1. A few head-scratching coaching decisions nearly turned a comfortable romp into a near-disaster thanks to two highly questionable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bwg-gr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3669"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3676,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3669\/revisions\/3676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}