The Good:
--Ben is spreading the ball around. 7 Steelers made receptions, including Ryan Switzer, who caught a touchdown. Vance McDonald is one of the better game-breaking tight ends in football when he’s healthy. He’s healthy. Just ask Chris Conte.
--AB caught a TD, so he should STFU for a week. His mere presence allows for Ben to spread the ball around. The complimentary pieces are really playing well in this offense. JuJu Smith-Schuster is a star (LIT AF).
--Roethlisberger proved he can still play good football on the road. After week one in Cleveland, I wasn’t so sure.
--The Steelers offense was able to milk the final 2:36 off the clock in the “four minute drill.” Ben Roethlisberger’s pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster sealed the deal. The offense didn’t do much of anything in the second half, but they did possess the ball for 5 of the games final 5 and a half minutes. James Conner had a lot to do with it. After only rushing for 17 yards, Conner had 44 on two carries in the games waning moments. Clutch.
--The defense forced 4 turnovers and was able to sack Fitzpatrick 3 times. They bleed yards, they’ll yield points, but taking the football away can mitigate some of the problems.
--Terrell Edmunds is/is going to be good. His burst after he intercepted the Fitzpatrick pass was special.
--Bud Dupree had a sack and 1.5 TFL. He also left some plays on the field (see; “the bad”).
The Bad:
--The defense gave up 17 points in three drives in the second half when they should have been able to put the game away.
--Artie Burns was burned on a double move late for a touchdown. He’s got all the physical tools, but it’s his brain that you worry about.
--It was concerning to me that Sensebaugh got the start. That’s an indictment of Burns, but also of Cam Sutton, who I believe to be a good player. Perhaps this is a motivational ploy to get Burns and even Sutton to play better.
--Mike Hilton is a VERY good football player. He could be “significantly” hurt according to Mike Tomlin.
--13 penalties for 155 yards is unacceptable. Worst of all, guys like Cam Heyward, DHB, and Jon Bostic were committing egregious ones.
--They’re all veterans and need to know better.
--Good teams will beat you when you rack up 155 penalty yards. Tampa is fine. They ain’t good.
--Chris Boswell missed 3, 4, and 3 kicks in each of his first 3 years, respectively. He’s 1 for 4 this year with two missed extra points. Is he Steve Blass?
--This makes things that much more difficult on the coaching staff when you don’t know whether or not you can trust a kicker. I don’t think Tomlin is there just yet, but a few more misses could change that.
--T.J. Watt was great in game 1, and has been largely invisible after.
--Bud Dupree had 1 sack and 1.5 TFL, but he left some meat on the bone. He missed an easy sack of Fitzpatrick later in the game. Perhaps that had to do with the lack of being able to hit a QB without drawing a flag.
--Which brings me to the refs. Really, it ain’t there fault. It’s the league and the owners trying to protect their big time investments. It’s waaaaaay too much, though.
--If I didn’t have to watch the game for work, I’d have turned it off yesterday. It made for terrible television.