BUFFALO, NY (93.7 The Fan) – A first half where they couldn’t get anything going offensively. The Steelers backed up the play of their defense by making some big plays on offense in the second half. As well as special teams
Steelers were 1 of 6 on third down, 53 total yards and no points. While not extraordinary, the offense able to get 200 yards in the second half with 10 first downs and found a way.
“I think guys just settling in,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “We had a lot of first timers out there. That’s a hostile place. Those fans are awesome. They were loud. Pat (Freiermuth) grabbed me after and said ‘they were loud out there’. I said yeah, welcome to the NFL.”
“I hate to use a Coach Tomlinism, but they didn’t blink. They stood up in the face of not playing well early. We didn’t make the big mistake either. We didn’t do what we wanted to do, but we didn’t turn the ball over. We didn’t do anything catastrophic.”
“The fact that you come in at halftime. It wasn’t like there was a big rah-rah. No one really spoke and acted crazy. It was ‘ok, this is what we are going to do in the second half. Let’s go do it’.”
Roethlisberger foreshadowed it on Wednesday saying they would struggle at times. He nailed that. He also said it was about finding a way to win. He nailed that as well.
“We anticipate that a little bit, the bumps in the road that the offense are going to have, newness, the kind of stability. What we expect is our defense to carry us. Told them that afterwards. Appreciated their efforts, appreciated what they do, not losing faith in us.
“There are going to be other times throughout this year that they’re going to have to carry us, and there might be times where we have to carry the D. You
just don’t know.”
“It showed once we scored,” said receiver Diontae Johnson about the trust the defense had in them. “That confidence went into the defensive side.
We got the blocked punt and everyone was playing as one and it showed.”
Special Teams
There was a big point in the game, where you could say the difference between the Steelers and Bills was the 75-yard Buffalo kickoff return that led to an early 3-0 lead. Special teams were looking like old school goats, not GOATS (greatest of all time).
More mistakes with a near block of Pressley Harvin and then Harvin with a 30-yard punt into the wind setting up the Bills at the Steelers 35.
It wasn’t just the offense improving in the second half, Chris Boswell made 3 of 3 field goals including a 45-yarder into the wind.
The huge play though early in the fourth quarter with the Steelers coming off their first touchdown, clinging to a 13-10 lead. Cam Heyward and TJ Watt with the sack of Josh Allen on the next series. Bills Matt Haack punting from his end zone and little-known free agent signee Miles Killebrew breaks free, blocks the kick. Oft-criticized in preseason games, linebacker Ulysees Gilbert picks it up and scores for a two possession game.
“I’m appreciative of the efforts of Miles [Killebrew], I think who had the block, and UG [Ulysees Gilbert III], who had the scoop and score,” Tomlin said. “We needed a splash play like that.”
Like I mentioned, we spotted them three to start the game. At halftime, I heard a lot of the core special teams’ players, Derek Watt and others, saying that we had to even the score from that perspective. We needed splash in that phase of the game. And boy, they delivered and delivered big.”
Other Notes
· Linebacker Robert Spillane inactive after hurting his shin during warmups
· New acquired corner Ahkello Witherspoon inactive having only a week of practices with the team following the trade from Seattle
· Also inactive rookie defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk and offensive tackle Rashaad Coward