PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was a matter of a couple of drives where the Steelers just couldn’t make a stop, that cost them the opportunity for a win Sunday.
First was with the Steelers up 7-0 in the second quarter. Jermar Jefferson, a seventh-round pick from Oregon State, ran by the Steelers defense for 28 yards for a touchdown. That rush more than doubled his season total.
Next possession, D’Andre Swift, a much more accomplished tailback who had been mostly held in check, totaled 62 yards on a field goal drive to tie the game again, 10-10 at half. Swift would total 130 yards rushing.
First possession of the second half, Swift goes 29 yards and then replaced by Godwin Igwebuike, an undrafted rookie from Northwestern. He had rushed for 18 yards this season. On his fourth carry of his professional career, Igwebuike would rush for 14 yards. Then on the next play, he would leave through the Steelers defense for 42 yards and gave the Lions the lead.
With nine minutes to play in the third quarter, the Steelers had given up 199 yards rushing to the winless Detroit Lions.
“There was a guy out of place or two there initially, but if you had to wrap it in a bow and talk about it globally or largely; we had to tackle better,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “As the game went on, we did, and we were able to settle it down, but the damage was the damage.”
“We got a lot of looks we didn’t necessarily practice with their big tight end they brought in,” said linebacker Joe Schobert. “They gave us a lot of looks and it took us longer than it should have to be able to nail the screws down on that.”
“Gap integrity becomes huge,” said Steelers captain Cam Heyward. “They did some things that were obscure. They made some plays in the run game getting out. We didn’t do a good job getting off blocks.”
At times, Detroit used an offensive lineman as an extra blocker. Matt Nelson, 6’7”, 316 pound second-year tackle from Iowa, was in there for a number of the big runs.
“When they have an extra O-lineman, we have to get off blocks, drive our feet,” Heyward said. “Early on, myself included, we missed a couple of tackles. It came down to a tie game, we needed to make some plays and we didn’t make enough.”
“They came out with a good plan, we got to handle it ourselves,” said linebacker Alex Highsmith. “Stopping the run is working a man and making a tackle. We know that we have to be a lot better. Each have to look in the mirror.
“Today was unacceptable. We know we have to be better and we will be better.”
It’s a similar refrain, got to think Chargers tailbacks Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson can’t wait to see if the issues are solved Sunday night in Los Angeles.