Steelers Week 6 Takeaways
Image from: The Washington Post
The Pittsburgh Steelers are finally hitting their stride after beating the Seattle Seahawks in overtime 23-20. The Steelers have won two straight games since starting the season 1-3. The Steeler's defense dominated the first half holding Seattle's offense to only 18 rushing yards. Ben Roethlisberger and company struck first early in the second quarter hitting Najee Harris 5-yard touchdown. Steelers tightened Eric Ebron found the endzone late in the second quarter leading Seattle 14-0 before halftime. What looked to be an easy Steelers win turned into an overtime thriller. Seattle rallied in the second half trailing the Steelers 17-14 late in the third. With an outstanding second-half performance by Seattle running backs rushing for over 126 yards, the Seahawks forced the game into overtime. Steelers outside linebacker TJ Watt stripped sacked Geno Smith setting the offense on Seattle's 16-yard line. Steeler's kicker Chris Boswell hits a 37-yard game-winning field goal.
Offense: The Steeler's offense has made tremendous strides past two weeks. Ben Roethlisberger looks like he is fully healthy. Also, his decision-making was spot on Sunday night throwing for 229 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line played outstanding not allowing Ben to get sacked the entire game. The absents of Juju Smith-Schuster were noticeable but that did not stop this offense. Diontae Johnson looks to be Ben's one receiver finishing the game with 9 receptions for 71-yards. Next, I would like to see the offense score more points, currently, their highest-scoring game was 27 points.
Defense: It was clear that the defense did not respect Seattle's offense in the second half. The defense held Seattle to just 18 rushing yards in the first half. Beginning of the third quarter Seattle's running back Alex Collins thrashed the defense finishing with 101 rushing yards. Besides allowing 129 rushing yards in the second half they had a good game. The defense kept the pressure on Geno Smith and sacked him multiple times. TJ Watt is my defensive player of the year after the amazing plays in overtime. The secondary held both Lockett and Metcalf to a combined 8 receptions.
Overall, the Steelers are moving in the right direction. The Steelers are 3-3 and are now 3rd in the AFC North after the Browns lost to Arizona Sunday. The last time the Steelers were 3-3 after starting 1-3 was in 2002. They won four straight games finishing 10-5-1 and first in the AFC North. As a Steelers fan, I hope we can see the same results. The Steeler's next game will be October 31 as they travel to Cleveland to play the Browns.