On Thursday we witnessed the transformation of the Steeler juggernaut from a theory to reality. The game didn’t feel fully in hand until the 4th quarter when the Steelers 17 unanswered points to reach their highest scoring title of the season. Aside from an errant 75 TD pass by the Titans, Pittsburgh dominated the second half, possessing the ball for 20 minutes.
Although Ben Roethlisberger upped his completion percentage for the game (67%), he was a BLISTERING 20 for 23 (87%) in the second half, amassing 185 of his eventual 299 yards for the game during that time.
Meanwhile, Antonio Brown had as many touchdowns this game (3) as he caught all season, while gaining 144 yards (his highest total since Week 6) on 10 receptions.
Curiously, the strategy for the running game seemed to revert to the one right before Tod Haley decided to throw the offense on Le’Veon Bell’s back. Even with the Steelers up 30-17 in the 4th quarter Bell only ran the ball 4 times (with James Conner getting the ball twice).
Bend-Don’t-Break defense was again successful. Marcus Mariota connected on 67% of his passes for 306 yards, while the Titans’ ground attack was held to 52. The defensive line was revved up, registering 4 of the Steeler’s 5 sacks of the night, with Cam Heyward responsible for 2 of them. Whether it was the Steelers disguising coverage, or Mariota was just off, Pittsburgh had 4 interceptions.
Special teams were also stout. T.J. Watt batted down an attempted field goal and the kickoff coverage team generally bottled up Adoree’ Jackson (other than one perturbing return to the 36), holding them on average to the 20 yard line.
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