PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers got back to .500 on the season with a 23-20 overtime win over Seattle. Here are our Steelers six points of the game.
Pair of Official calls
· Crazy play to end regulation
With 18 seconds left and Seattle out of time outs, Geno Smith hit DK Metcalf at the Steelers 23-yard line. James Pierre forced a fumble recovered by Seattle’s Freddie Swain. As the Seahawks scrambled to get to the line to spike it before the clock ran out, which it appeared it did. The officials stopped play and reviewed whether Metcalf made a catch. After confirming they made the right call, the officials put three seconds on the clock, allowing the Seahawks to spike the ball and then kick a 40-yard field goal to send it into overtime.
“I hated it,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “I hated it. I cannot believe that game was stopped to confirm catch/no catch in that moment. That’s all I’m going to say. It was an embarrassment.”
· Ben Roethlisberger fumble
While most agreed with the new NFL fumble rules, what Ben Roethlisberger did early in the fourth quarter in pump faking and then losing the ball was a fumble. Roethlisberger disagrees.
“I was told that even though the ball was going forward, my arm was going backwards,” Roethlisberger said. “I had to ask Josh Dobbs, who’s an aerospace engineer, how that works.”
Asked what Dobbs said.
“He said it’s not possible, but I can’t get fined for that because I’m just telling you what Dobbs said,” Roethlisberger responded with a smile.
3rd quarter rush
Seattle’s Alex Collins rushed 13 times for 79 yards in the third quarter alone. Geno Smith was 4-5 for 65 yards and a touchdown in the period. Seattle had only 65 total yards in the first half.
Back-up battle
In 2020, the Steelers were 3-1 against back-up quarterbacks. The loss coming to Ryan Finley at Cincinnati in December. The three wins all decided by a touchdown or less. Based on recent trends, it should not have been a surprise this game was close.
Ebron secret
It was as Matt Canada a play as you get. The first-year offensive coordinator loves fullbacks and tight ends. On second-and-goal from the one-yard line, tight end Eric Ebron came in motion, got the handoff from Roethlisberger and scored over the left side of the line.
It’s Ebron’s third career NFL rushing touchdown with three different teams (Detroit, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh). The 28-year-old now had five NFL carries for -6 yards and three touchdowns.
Attendance
Much talk about no-shows to Heinz Field. For a prime-time Sunday game honoring four Pro Football Hall of Famers, the attendance 60,821. The capacity is 68,400. The Raiders game drew 63,707, the Bengals 58,076.
In the fourth quarter, many in the crowd oblivious to Seattle defensive end Darrell Taylor motionless on the ground. While medical crews worked on him, fans started the wave. Steelers players implored the crowd to stop by motioning their arms down. The wave and crowd excitement finally halted and a respectful quiet came as Taylor carted off the field.
“It’s tough when you see a player go down like that,” said Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson. “I still say we are brothers even though we are on a different team. It’s tough seeing somebody going down like that.”
“It’s really tough going through it, and with Ryan (Shazier), it brought back a lot of memories,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s hard to refocus after something like that. I wish him nothing but the best too. Our prayers are going to him-him and his family. A lot of praying was going on, on the field and we’re going to continue to pray for him.”
Steelers Loss
Steelers linebackers coach Jerry Osavsky was not at the game Sunday after the death of his wife earlier last week.
“We’re obviously going to spend some time early in the week tomorrow with our hearts and just everything with Jerry O and his family,” Roethlisberger said. “Just so sad, and we missed Jerry out there today. I know he wanted to be out there. But like I said, our thoughts and prayers and everything go out to him, and I think we’ll need to spend some time early this week really just trying to be there for him.”