By Ray Porter Jr. for Urban Media Today
PITTSBURGH, PA–When the Pittsburgh Steelers suffered their only loss (thus far) of the season vs. the Seattle Seahawks, the main concerns were about the defense, because not only were they not performing well, but they also weren’t blitzing the quarterback. They couldn’t get off the field, and they allowed the Seahawks to dominate them 31-17 in front of the Acrisure Stadium crowd.
“You know, I’m concerned about a lot of things. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said then “We didn’t perform to the level that we desired not only in that space but in a lot of spaces and so certainly there’s a lot that has my attention leading into this upcoming week.”
Tomlin and the team made necessary adjustments to the defensive scheme, and it resulted in 5 sacks and 5 turnovers in the win vs. New England and 6 sacks vs. Minnesota in Dublin, Ireland. And their objective was to keep the sacks coming as they welcomed the Cleveland Browns to Acrisure Stadium Sunday afternoon, and the result was 6 more sacks and 0 TDs in a 23-9 victory in front of 66.736 at Acrisure Stadium.
“Man, it’s great to win in the North. Good start for us in divisional play,” said Tomlin. “I appreciate how the guys came off the bye. We didn’t warm up to it. We had certain agendas that we thought were critical to making this game unfold the way we desired for it to unfold. We thought they played behind their runner. We wanted to do a good job of minimizing him, and I think we did that.”
LB Nick Herbig and CB Jaylen Ramsey lead the charge on Browns QB Dillion Gabriel (29/52, 221 yards) with 2 sacks apiece. Rookie DT Derrick Harmon added 1 & LB’s TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith added half-sacks for the Steelers (4-1), and they also limited RB Quinshon Judkins to 36 yards (65 yards as a team)
“I just think we’re getting a full complement of our weapons back. In Ireland, man, we got 25 [DeShon Elliott] back,” said Tomlin. “This week we got 56 [Alex Highsmith] back, 24 [Joey Porter Jr.] back. Everybody goes through injuries. I’m not seeking comfort in the lack of availability, but if you are asking me, why is it starting to look the way that we desire, we got a full complement of talent. When we put this band together, we feel like we can do things like you saw today.”
Although the Steelers defense was able to hold the Browns to only 3 points in the first half, the offense was only able to generate 9 points on 3 Chris Boswell field goals. But that misfortune ended in the second half as QB Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers put together 2 successful drives that ended with 2 TDs. The first one was a 12-yard pass from Rodgers to TE/FB Connor Heyward and the 2nd one was a 25-yard spiral from Rodgers to WR DK Metcalf (4 Rec, 95 yards) Rodgers finished passing for 235 yards (21/28) and 2 TDs.
“You know, I thought we ran the ball effectively,” said Tomlin. “I think when you run the ball effectively. It tees up some of the action, the play action, and most of our chunks were born out of run action. So, you know, it’s really as simple as that.”
The Steelers’ running game was also impressive as they rushed for 100 yards as a team and RB Jaylan Warren celebrated his return with 52 yards rushing.
One of the players who benefited from the passing was TE Darnell Washington who finished with 62 yards on 3 receptions.
“We’ve been very transparent about Darnell’s role. We play four-three teams. Man, we need a guy that looks like those four-three ends. It’s a major component of our run game. Can’t say enough about his efforts and also Spencer Anderson. There are weight classes in combat sports for a reason,” said Tomlin.
As they are now preparing to face the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium Thursday night, the Steelers are hoping to keep their foot on the ‘pedal’ and continue to rack up victories.
“We got a short week. We’re chasing another AFC North pelt here in a short number of days, so we respect the process,” said Tomlin. “We got to work fast here in preparation for Thursday night.”
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