Steelers Week 8 Reaction

 What a night in sports it was last night! I was feeling a bit overwhelmed flipping between the Raptors and Steelers last night, both games were just so good it was hard to turn away. Ultimately my Raptors fell short in a classic young team loss. Easy to get out executed down the stretch when you're going up against a 3x MVP and champion in Nikola Jokic. Anyway, that's not what we're here to talk about, we're here for the Steelers! Oh man what a great win in what was looking like an all time trap game candidate. The Steelers didn't win this one pretty, but they got the job done and honestly that's Steelers football baby. There were also a ton of mind boggling instances of Giants football which I will certainly get into.

Offense Clicking

When Tomlin made the call to sub in Russell Wilson for Justin Fields last week, I like a lot of fans was pretty baffled. We have all been proven wrong. Wilson isn't doing anything super crazy out there and he didn't again yesterday, but he is making the right reads consistently and utilizing the weapons that he does have at his disposal. Russ did what he does best yesterday throwing multiple beautiful deep balls for big plays, something the Steelers offense has severely lacked since big Ben retired. George Pickens must be thrilled to have a QB that can use his big catch radius and strong hands so effectively. Russ did a good job of taking the checkdown when it was there, playing mistake free football. When you have a defense as talented as the Steelers sometimes winning comes down to just not making mistakes. Wilson did have a big fumble with 5 minutes left in the game to give the Giants a chance to tie, but the Steelers defense quickly cleaned that up and the threat was neutralized. 

The running game was a big part of Wilson's success. The Giants are not a good run defense by any stretch, allowing the 5th most rushing yards and the most rushing yards per attempt in the NFL. This doesn't negate what Najee Harris was able to do. Oh man was I ever wrong about Najee Harris, I will never question his slow starts again. Harris hit the holes with force for the 4th week in a row setting the tone early and often. After multiple runs broke through for big gains, the play action game was flying with Wilson now able to make big plays over the top. When the running game is going for the Steelers, especially with all the playmakers they have on defense, it is really difficult to stop this team. 

The one negative from the offense this week was their performance in the redzone. Especially in the first half, the Steelers did a great job of moving the ball and getting inside the 10 yard line but then struggled to punch it across having to settle instead for field goals. When Justin Fields was starting, the Steelers utilized his legs as a weapon in the end zone, he seemed to consistently find a way to run one in. Russel Wilson at his age doesn't have this same skillset. The Steelers do have some big targets in Pickens and Darnell Washington which can be useful in redzone situations, but completing these passes is easier said than done. The one TD scored on offense last night came on a gorgeous deep ball to Calvin Austin for a 29 yard score. Although Wilson has his strengths as shown there, it would be interesting to see if Tomlin opts for a dual QB system with Justin Fields taking some redzone snaps. Against a better team, settling for field goals every drive isn't going to be enough and redzone offense should be the top of the priority list for the bye week. 

Defense Makes Big Plays

I love TJ Watt. Lets start here, after Wilson's fumble late in the 4th quarter gave the Giants some life, TJ Watt destroyed all hope with a huge sack fumble almost immediately after. I am going to have a whole long section on the Giants ineptitude and believe me it definitely played into this play, but at the end of the day big time players make big time plays. TJ Watt hadn't recorded a sack in the last 2 games, teams committed a lot of resources to double teaming him on every play. You knew TJ wasn't going to be quiet forever and he picked a huge moment to come through once again. The game wasn't over yet though, the Steelers didn't manage to run all of the clock after getting the ball back and were forced to punt at the 2 minute warning with the Giants having no timeouts. The comeback push was short lived as Daniel Jones threw a game ending pick to Beanie Bishop, his third interception in 2 games. Beanie got a lot of hate on Steelers Reddit, a perpetually unserious place, that has since turned into love and admiration for a guy that seems to be in the right place at the right time more often than not. 

Overall the defense played well throughout the game. For all the redzone woes the Steelers faced, the Giants also couldn't punch one across until they got a huge 45 yard run from Tyrone Tracy Jr in the 4th quarter. Running backs have definitely seemed to have their way with the Steelers so far this season, but they have a certain bend don't break attitude that I love. With all the playmakers on the defense, I think it makes sense to play conservative, allow some gains on the ground and then tighten up in the redzone. The Steelers always have a great chance of creating turnovers to end a drive and if worse comes to worse, they have a great field goal blocking unit that should strike the fear of god into opposing kickers. Tomlin knows how to win ball games and this one was just another example. 

The Giants are Not a Serious Team

I debated whether or not I should start with this, it's rather negative I suppose and is that really the way to set the tone after a win? Seriously though this was the real story of the game. The Giants spent literally the entire game making mistakes, boneheaded plays or just confusing play calls. In the first half, it felt like every time the Giants made a big play on offense they also committed a penalty to negate it. They had a penalty for illegal formation where their receiver didn't get set after going in motion before the snap, when does that ever even happen in the NFL. They had multiple holding calls, an illegal man downfield even a 12 men on the field on defense. This game was just plain sloppy for the Giants. If they were seriously just 25% more disciplined they would have had a great shot at winning this game. The penalties were atrocious, avoidable and detrimental, but they weren't even the biggest mind boggling mistakes in this game. 

After the aforementioned 45 yard TD run by Tyrone Tracy, the Giants decided to go for 2. First of all, the TD cut the lead to 8, going for 2 doesn't change the fact that you'd need a TD again to at least tie, why not just kick the extra point and be down 7? The Giants figured it's better to go for 2 twice if you miss the first, and if you make it then a TD gives them a great chance of winning rather than tying. I disagree with the decision making, but can understand the thought process. Then the Giants actually lined up for their 2 point conversion, and it was one of the stupidest plays I've ever seen. The Giants lined up with 3 offensive lineman at the line of scrimmage, and 5 guys standing in a bunch on the far side of the field. The most obvious screen pass you will ever see in an NFL game. The "blockers" standing on the far side of the field weren't even allowed to make contact until the pass was completed to the intended receiver. Reading this stupid play perfectly, Alex Highsmith just immediately rushed the receiver upon the snap and blew up the play before it had any chance. I seriously can't envision this play working against any team in any situation, and the fact that they called for it in a crucial moment when they didn't even need to be going for 2 just shows how unserious the Giants are. 

Finally, before the game the Giants right tackle proclaimed that he wanted to be left on an island with TJ Watt, a statement that had Steelers fans everywhere excited. On the 4th quarter fumble from Daniel Jones, TJ was left 1 on 1 with the right tackle, a matchup he's simply going to win 9/10 times. TJ gets through relatively unbothered and punches the ball perfectly to force a game saving fumble. I understand having confidence, but as a coaching staff in a crucial moment of the game how do you not at least send someone to chip TJ on that play? TJ has made tackles look silly for almost a decade now, there's really no excuse for leaving him 1 on 1 with the game on the line. Ultimately even though the score showed this was a 1 possession game, I was never nervous down the stretch because the Giants are just so unserious. 

Shout out Special Teams

A punt return TD! I haven't seen one of those in a long time so I thought it'd be appropriate to give a quick shout out to Calvin Austin who ran one back last night. The Steelers special teams unit has been lights out all year, multiple blocked kicks and now a punt return TD. Special teams coach Danny Smith was called "the mortal enemy of chewing gum" in last week's game, a hilarious and appropriate nickname for a man who chews more gum at once than anyone I've ever seen. Anyway, great job Calvin and Danny you deserve a raise. 

HUGE win. Losing this one would have been devastating especially after the Ravens and Bengals were both embarrassed. The Steelers now sit alone on top of the division and are actually looking like one of the best teams in football. Some things they can clean up for sure, but the foundation is here for a team that Steelers fans can really believe in. Bye week this week, lots of time for me to load up on basketball content, yay!!