Exploits of strength / grievance spread: many of the two after the Steelers barely hold on to beat the Broncos

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It took me a few minutes to find my Steelers “Feats of Strength” file on my computer. I couldn’t remember where it had been recorded. It had been a long time since I had needed to access it. It’s been hard to find a lot of good things to write after the Steelers games over the past three weeks.

There have been tons of grievances to air. But not much praise to give.

Fortunately for the purposes of this column, the Steelers’ 27-19 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday at Heinz Field provided a lot of both.

Feats of strength

Opening salute: The Steelers’ 13-game streak on their first possession was interrupted last week in Green Bay when Ben Roethlisberger hit Diontae Johnson for 45 yards.

Now, they have a two-game straight streak to enter the end zone in the first practice after Roethlisberger hit Johnson for a 50-yard strike to start the game against Denver.

Via ESPN Stats & Info, Roethlisberger has had just two passing touchdowns on opening discs in his previous 27 games. Now he has made two games in a row.

Stone Accessories: In the second quarter, Denver’s Javonte Williams ran 49 yards to the Pittsburgh 2-yard line.

He would have gone 51 yards for a touchdown if it hadn’t been for a huge display of effort from Steelers cornerback James Pierre, who ran down the field and tackled Williams before he could. enter the end zone.

This game saved the Steelers by four points as the Broncos had a series of bizarre events that kept them from finishing the run with a touchdown.

Williams got up and taped the ball in the field of play. It’s a late-game penalty. As a result, the Broncos had to start their red zone streak at the 7-yard line instead of the 2.

On the second down, Denver quarterback Teddy Bridgewater dropped 12 yards on a Devin Bush sack. The Broncos couldn’t regroup to play on the sidelines, so they burned a time out. Then on the third and “goal” of the 17th, Bridgewater threw well short of the goal line, while Williams only caught a six-yard gain.

The Broncos were content with a field goal, which meant they were still trailing 10-6, instead of leveling the score. All because Pierre emptied the tank and never left the room.

“My state of mind was for the team,” said Pierre. “I saw Joe (Haden) running, so I was running. … It was a big lesson for me. On the sidelines, all the older guys were excited. They were in juice. I just knew it was an important game.

On the negative side, Pierre gave up Courtland Sutton’s 39-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Later, however, he rebounded with a near-interception on a similar attempt on the sideline and eventually managed an interception that sealed the game on a fourth down and a goal with 11 seconds left.

Third party difference: During the three-game losing streak, coach Mike Tomlin has often said his team needs to do better when it comes to possession. It happened Sunday at Heinz Field.

The Steelers have converted seven of their first 10 third down attempts and seven of 12 overall. This helped Tomlin’s team win the possession battle time 33:02 to 26:58.

“We were on schedule,” said Tomlin. “If you look at the bottom and the distances of the conversions, they were very manageable.”

On the other side of the ball, the Steelers defense struggled on the fourth down against the Broncos, allowing three conversions in four tries. But they stopped Denver 10 times in 12 attempts on the third down.

Pause ‘aht performance: Najee Harris and Chase Claypool had their best games of the season. And you can tell Roethlisberger did too.

Before feeling cramped and having to leave the game in the fourth quarter, Harris had 142 yards of scrum on much more meaningful touches than he got against the Cincinnati Bengals when he had the same total. in a 24-10 loss.

Claypool had five catches for a career-high 130 yards and a touchdown. A 59-yard reception was the highlight of his afternoon.

“To be able to get that piece of play, that eliminates a lot of the execution needed,” Claypool said. “We did that a lot during this game. It makes everyone’s job much easier.

Johnson’s 50-yard touchdown was one of those games. Claypool had another hold for 23 yards. Harris had 20 and 18 yard carries.

As for Roethlisberger, his 15 goals were a low of the season. But because the offensive line blocked the run so much better, the quarterback only had to pitch 25 times. Roethlisberger’s total of 253 yards was also modest.

However, Roethlisberger’s two touchdown passes, 10.1 yards per attempt and his passer rating of 120.9 were the best of the season. He was also not intercepted (thanks to a few drops from the Broncos) and was only sacked once.

Claypool credited an improving offensive line for much of this production from the three players. He is right. This crew has improved a lot over the past two weeks.

Keep them quiet: During the week, Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler identified Broncos tight end Noah Fant as the team’s most dangerous wide receiver available.

I question that a bit, but the defense still limited Fant to three catches on four targets for 20 yards.

This is the fourth time in five games that the Steelers have chosen what they consider to be the opposition’s favorite receiver. Stephon Diggs (Bills), Darren Waller (Raiders) and Davante Adams (Packers) all failed to score or reach 70 yards while receiving.

Granted, Tomlin said the Steelers got help from the Broncos because they were keeping Fant to block a bit. But when Fant hit the roads, the Steelers didn’t let him lose him.

On offense, the much-maligned line kept Denver star rusher Von Miller quiet. He had two tackles and no sacks or hits from the quarterback. In fact, apart from Roethlisberger’s strip-sack in the first half, Roethlisberger was only hit one other time.

Dissemination of grievances

Big Ben clock: The simplest complaint is to complain about the defense that nearly let the Broncos tie at the end of the fourth quarter. But here is a specific game in attack.

When Roethlisberger was sacked by Malik Reed in the first quarter, by his own admission, he kept the ball too long.

The Steelers quarterback stepped up as the pocket collapsed around the edges as both tackles were beaten. Roethlisberger should have felt that way, but he kept the ball anyway. The result was sales.

Yes, the Steelers offense has to evolve beyond Roethlisberger to catch the snap and throw it as fast as humanly possible. In this case, however, Roethlisberger should have gotten rid of it faster.

Them too: Dude, the Broncos did some stupid stuff.

Hey, I always reserve the right to express a grievance against the other team when warranted.

I described their missteps after the Williams race. They also burned a time out after a kickoff before their first game after the Steelers scored in opening practice. On one play, Sutton shot the same move Johnson did for the Steelers last week when he first had a backing distance and then came back in front of the marker.

They committed seven penalties. Williams’ peak was particularly glaring. And how many times has Bridgewater thrown – or attempted to throw – out of sticks on the third down? I’ve seen at least five or six.

I also counted at least two or three interception chances that the Broncos defense couldn’t get.

Maybe Broncos coach Vic Fangio Should have spent less time complaining about the Baltimore Ravens for that insane race record against them last week and more time focusing on his team’s execution.

What was it?: I really didn’t understand what the Steelers were doing at the end of the first half.

After a Denver punt, the Steelers began a practice on their own 10-yard line with two timeouts and 1:31 remaining in halftime. The Steelers seemed confused as to whether they wanted to run out of time or try to make another score.

On a second and 12 from the 8-yard line, Harris had 13 yards. In the first downshot that followed, Roethlisberger completed a 5-yard pass to Eric Ebron and called the time-out with 23 seconds left to the Steelers 26.

After the time out, they just threw Kalen Ballage into the line and let the time run out.

Why bother to throw the previous one and call the timeout if they were just going to let the clock expire anyway? I do not understand.

Injuries: JuJu Smith-Schuster left the game with a shoulder injury that appeared to be serious. Devin Bush has a groin injury that limited him in the second half. Harris left the game in the fourth quarter with cramps.

The depth is already tested on this team. More injuries will be difficult to absorb.

Some help?: TJ Watt has been very calm for the second week in a row. Last week he got those two gift bags on a trip from Aaron Rodgers, then a slip from the Packers quarterback. But even according to Butler’s assessment, it wasn’t one of Watt’s best games.

Against Denver, Watt made just three tackles. A first-half loss tackle was his only splash play.

That said, he was getting skinned and passed by tight ends and running backs with offensive linemen, especially towards the end of the game.

Alex Highsmith and Melvin Ingram only had one tackle each. And the whole defense only had one sack in each half. They need to do more if Watt gets that much attention.

Tim Benz is an editor for Tribune-Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.



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