Steelers Almost Kill Me, But They Move To 6-0
Yeah that was about as Steelers as it gets. Dominate the first half, get a big lead, but everyone knew at halftime up 24-7 that the second 30 was not going to be easy at all.
We were due for that one after the Sunday walk in the park last week beating the Browns ass.
I said in May for my season prediction that the Steelers would (originally) be 3-0 heading into Nashville for Week 4 then they would stumble in a tough game in Nashville with Big Ben committing multiple turnovers. That's exactly what happened today minus the result.
Pretty amazing just how opposite the two halves were. Just the slightest part of me thought "holy shit they really are about to blow these MFs out", and they were until a sloppy, conservative, lead-protecting third quarter got the Titans back in the game.
Holy shit how much was CBS paying Ian Eagle and Charles Davis to talk about Derrick Henry? They would not shut the fuck up about that dude even when the Titans were down by 20 and the Steelers held him under 80 yards rushing. It seemed like they had incentives to hit a certain number talking about Henry and they'd get a bonus check for the game.
Anyways, Steelers win, they survive, and they're undefeated. Let's hand out some game balls.
Vince Williams
I thought Vince really set the tone as only Vince can when it came to the ground game. Everyone knew they were going to try to jam Henry down our throats, and he brought the physicality per usual. 9 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL. He was everywhere. He along with Spillane did a really good job after the loss of Devin Bush for the year to not make it evident that the Steelers defense lost their signal-caller and athletic playmaker in the middle. Love Vince.
Diontae Johnson
9 catches. 82 yards. 2 touchdowns. Yes, he dropped that DIME of a ball from Ben at the end of the first half on that free play that would have buried the Titans, but still you can't overlook the two scores, and two third down conversions from him on the day. His field awareness is phenomenal. Dude is always making cuts to get loose, and we saw that on his last score. He and Big Ben's continued growth is really fun to watch.
Ray-Ray McCloud
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a kick and punt returner. Finally. Ray-Ray got free for 57 yards and honestly one bad cut away from taking it house. It's nice to not have to put Diontae Johnson out there and still not lose playmaking ability. He's also shown to be really reliable with the football both on fair catches, and just straight up holding on to the ball during returns. He's always a threat to bust one.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
A really, really solid week from JuJu. 9 catches. 85 yards. Had three HUGE third down conversions in the 4th quarter that unfortunately didn't result in points, but it kept the clock and the chains moving. I know it sounds silly, but Steelers fans can't appreciate enough a star receiver who is happy for his team and teammate's success then still comes to work and is a reliable top receiver. Proud of JuJu.
I thought TJ Watt and Terrell Edmunds played well, too. A few missed chances for a usually opportunistic defense to get some turnovers fell to the turf. Gotta take advantage of those next week in Baltimore.
Buckle up. Ravens week. Here We Go.