Tim Benz: ‘Feats of Strength/Airing of Grievances’ after Steelers barely hang on to beat Broncos
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Steelers fans weren’t allowed in the stands at Heinz Field on Sunday. Yet, somehow, I could sense 68,000 Pittsburghers simultaneously tensing up during the second half against the Denver Broncos.
In my mind’s eye, I could see the Terrible Towels being thrown to the ground. I could hear the screams of, “What are you looking at Big Ben?! Who is calling these plays?! Is Mike Tomlin’s team really gonna choke against Denver again?!”
OK. Maybe those weren’t imaginary fans in my brain. Maybe that was just me yelling at my television.
Yes, the Steelers won 26-21 against the Broncos. But it was a flip-flopped game from Monday night’s win against the New York Giants. The Steelers were great after halftime on “Monday Night Football” after a sluggish start.
On Sunday, they were rotten after controlling the first 30 minutes and knocking out Broncos quarterback Drew Lock. They nearly blew a 17-3 third-quarter lead.
So, even though the Steelers have improved to 2-0 in 2020, as we go over this week’s “Feats of Strength,” we have plenty of material for our “Airing of Grievances” as well.
FEATS OF STRENGTH
Time for Terrell: Steelers safety Terrell Edmunds hasn’t made enough big plays in his three-year career to warrant being a former first-round pick.
But he made the biggest play of Sunday’s second half for the defense.
Edmunds sacked Denver quarterback Jeff Driskel on a fourth-and-2 in the fourth quarter to snuff out a potential winning drive by the Broncos.
Denver had the ball on the Steelers’ 15-yard line with 1 minute, 51 seconds left in the game.
It was Edmunds’ second sack of his career and his first since Dec. 2, 2018. That was Game 12 of his rookie season.
Keep ‘em coming: The Steelers keep generating big plays on defense. In 2019, they led the NFL with 54 sacks and 38 takeaways.
Sunday, coordinator Keith Butler’s defense racked up seven sacks and two turnovers. That’s a total of 10 sacks and four turnovers the first two weeks.
I thought the Steelers might be able to replicate their sack total in 2020. I didn’t think they’d be able to recreate the turnovers.
Perhaps they’ll wind up doing both.
Chasing Chase: Rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool hit a home run TD on this 84-yard bomb from Ben Roethlisberger.
84. Yards. To. The. House.@_BigBen7 | @ChaseClaypool
? #DENvsPIT on CBS pic.twitter.com/joAKC0p7cz
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 20, 2020
The Notre Dame product also flashed with three special teams tackles.
Claypool appears ready to squeeze himself into more snaps offensively very soon. But, in the meantime, his size, strength and tenacity on special teams can be useful.
Heckuva trade: A huge early moment in the game was Bud Dupree sacking Lock to create a fumble after a third-down snap at the Steelers’ 25-yard line.
OUR BALL!!!@bud_dupree forces it out, @MikeHilton_28 picks it up!#DENvsPIT on CBS pic.twitter.com/4vmCJFOrnz
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 20, 2020
Mike Hilton pounced on it to get the ball back for the Steelers offense. On the ensuing drive, Roethlisberger had an easy interception dropped by Broncos defensive back Michael Ojemudia in the Denver end zone.
The Steelers turned the second chance into a touchdown run by James Conner.
So that exchange resulted in at least a 10-point swing and Lock getting knocked out of the game.
It coulda been worse: As we’ll discuss shortly, the Steelers couldn’t get much going in the run game. But the offensive line did better than I expected overall, given the injury situation.
David DeCastro, Zach Banner, and Stefen Wisniewski missed the home opener because of injury. As a result, rookie Kevin Dotson had to start at right guard, and Chuks Okorafor filled in at right tackle.
And Ben Roethlisberger was sacked only once. Denver’s Bradley Chubb totaled 12 sacks as a rookie last year. He was held to just three tackles (one for a loss) on Sunday.
AIRING OF GRIEVANCES
Second-half swoon: The Steelers appeared to be in control of this game, leading 17-3 at halftime. They were awful in the second half, outscored by Denver, 18-9.
Two of those eight Pittsburgh points were a gift on a fumbled punt by the Broncos that went through their end zone.
That Steelers defense, which was garnering comparisons to the Steel Curtain during the CBS halftime show, nearly folded a two-touchdown lead to a backup quarterback and a badly injured Broncos team.
For as dynamic as the defense was, it allowed three scoring drives in the second half. It also had just one sack and no turnovers before Edmunds’ sack.
Ben’s pick: I’m not sure what Roethlisberger was looking for on this interception by Justin Simmons.
.@jsimms1119 coming up CLUTCH.#DENvsPIT | ?: CBS pic.twitter.com/SEiYOdbpYt
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 20, 2020
I’m not sure what else he thought he had. I’m not sure what he did have and ignored to make the throw.
Whatever other options existed, though, had to be better than that.
Receiver reckoning: Aside from Claypool’s big play, the receivers were spotty.
Diontae Johnson had a touchdown. But he fumbled a reverse on the Steelers’ first snap and seemed to blame himself for running the wrong depth on a slant when Roethlisberger misfired in the first half.
He also had a drop in the fourth quarter on a third-down pass. It wasn’t on target, but it was catchable.
JuJu Smith-Schuster had some gutty plays in the first half. But he also caught two passes where he didn’t get to the sticks on third downs when the Steelers needed him to do so. And he totaled only 14 receiving yards in the second half.
Flags flyin’: The Steelers were penalized 10 times. Six of them resulted in first downs for Denver.
Minkah Fitzpatrick already has had some great days at Heinz Field in his short Steelers career. Sunday wasn’t one, as he was guilty of penalties a few times.
He missed a tackle in the first half and got flagged for horse collar and pass interference penalties in the second half.
Where’s Watt?: Not T.J. He was good again with 2 1/2 sacks.
I’m talking about Derek Watt. Did the Steelers sign a fullback for a reason or not?
A third-and-2 at Denver’s 35 in the third quarter screamed for a run behind a fullback. Instead, the Steelers went with an empty set and five eligible pass catchers. They threw it to Smith-Schuster, and he gained nothing.
Then they threw it again on fourth down, and it went incomplete. The Broncos took over on downs and ended up scoring a touchdown.
Run out of a power set and get 6 feet, for crying out loud.
By the way, Watt did make a nice play on special teams to help force that safety on the botched punt to make the score 26-14.
Overall, the running game was garbage for most of the day. Benny Snell fumbled. And aside from James Conner’s 59-yard run at the end of the game, the Steelers had only 40 yards rushing.