Steelers Hold off Bears 29-27
[Pittsburgh,PA]If you ask the Steelers if they were proud of their performance against the Chicago Bears, you may get a variety of responses, but if you ask them about how they felt about the outcome, you can guarantee that their answer would be unanimous: That they are grateful for the win.
K Chris Boswell’s 40-yard FG with 30 seconds left gave the Steelers a 29-27 victory over the Bears in front of a Heinz Field attendance of 60,788 and Monday Night Football/ESPN audience. The Steelers were 6-point favorites to beat the Bears, but the Monsters of the Midway certainly did not make it easy.
“That’s just the nature of this thing. It’s the National Football League. You’re going to be in battles.” Said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin “The most important thing is that you smile in the face of adversity and deliver the necessary plays. That’s the silver lining in tonight’s performance. We were up against it; a lot of it due to our own doing. But you’ve got to tip your cap to the Bears. They competed, and they competed for 60 minutes. The cool thing is we made the necessary plays. Ben took the offense down the field, and we got the necessary field goal. We were able to close the game out and I’m thankful for that.”
There were many that expected the Steelers to be a challenge to Bears rookie QB Justin Fields, but the young man played like a savvy veteran as he passed for 291 yards (17-29) a TD and an interception. The former Ohio State All-American also ran for forty-five yards as he led the Bears to twenty-six unanswered points after trailing the Steelers 14-0 in the first quarter. Six of the Bears points were the result of a costly fumble by Steelers KR Ray-Ray McCleod who lost the ball on a return, and it was recovered by the Bears DeAndre Houston-Carson who returned it twenty-five yards for the TD.
“His mobility, his ability to create when there’s nothing there, his scrambling ability, we talked about it during the week last week.” Tomlin said of Fields “He ran for one hundred yards last week. But that was not by designed runs. His ability to escape the pocket and get out on the perimeter, we tried to minimize him going to his right some. He went to his left some and he made some throws while going to his left, so you’ve got to compliment him on that.”
Steelers Rookies Najee Harris and Pat Friermuth’s TDs propelled the Steelers to lead, but QB Ben Roethlisberger (21/30, 205 yards, 2 TDs) and the offense were not able to capitalize on scoring opportunities like they wanted to. Part of the reason were the struggles on the offensive line, which not only allowed Big Ben to get sacked four times and hit several times. The offensive line also struggled to find holes for Harris as well, but he led the Steelers with sixty- two yards on twenty-two carries.
When asked about Friermuth’s value in the Red Zone, Tomlin replied “I don’t think that any of us are surprised by what he did tonight. Those that watch us day-to-day, those that watch him
day-to-day, he’s a good combat catch guy. He delivers in those moments, and it’s just good to watch him develop and write his story in that way.”
In the second half, the Steelers defense also had its struggles as they surrendered 2 TDs and eventually the lead with over a minute left in the game. Fields did a number on the Steelers secondary, completing clutch passes to get them deep into Steelers territory. Then Fields found WR Darnell Mooney for a 16-yard TD pass to give the Bears their only lead of the game. (27-26) Mooney (3 rec, forty-one yards) would also score on a 15-yard run in the third quarter.
Despite the defensive struggles, All-Pro LB TJ Watt had a monster game as he led the Steelers with three sacks and batted a pass late in the game. Watt also is now the fourth-fastest NFL player to get sixty sacks. When asked about his milestone, Tomlin replied: (Laughing) He’s well compensated.”
But the Steelers were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as Big Ben was able to get the offense in to FG range, and Boswell’s 40-yard FG. The key play was a 22-yard pass to WR Diontae Johnson (5 rec, twenty-two yards) which got them into Bears territory. After the Steelers retook the lead, Fields and the Bears tried one more comeback attempt as they also got their kicker into range for a possible game-winning FG, but K Kairo Santos’ 65-yard attempt fell short, securing Steelers victory.
(Photo Credit Vince Butts-UMT SPORTS)
After a 1-3 start, the Steelers are 5-3 and are on a 4-game winning streak. They are also in second place in the AFC North Division, trailing the 6-2 Baltimore Ravens. Regardless of how pretty or ugly wins can be, the Steelers know that it is not about style points, but about doing whatever it takes to get into the win column, which they hope to continue next Sunday when they welcome the 0-8 Detriot Lions into Heinz Field.
“But to summarize, you definitely can’t give up. You can’t turn the ball over and give up scores in the kicking game. You do that, there’s a high probability you’re going to lose, let alone be in a tight game. We’ve got to hang on to the ball. We can’t give up scores in the kicking game. When you do, boy, you’d better knuckle up. And they did. I’m thankful for that.” Said Tomlin. “Got some lessons to learn, but it’s good to learn these lessons with a victory, so I’m appreciative.”
Notes: With the win, Tomlin tied HOF Coach Bill Cowher with 150 victories “I’m just appreciative of the standards that have been set by those that have come before me. All of us here. That standard, it is inspirational for us. It inspires us, it challenges us. I’m just thankful to be a part of this thing that is the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I work to do my job to uphold the standard.” Said Tomlin…Steelers Pro-Bowl DT intercepted his second career pass early in the first quarter.
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