The Steelers rebounded nicely after the week 1 loss to the Ravens with a 24-0 shut-out today of the Seattle Seahawks at Heinz Field. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger shook off a first half knee injury and threw for 298 yards on 30 passing attempts and 1 touchdown to Mike Wallace. Roethlisberger completed 22 passes on the day and did not throw an interception.
Wallace caught 8 of 9 balls thrown his way, including the touchdown, and finished with 126 receiving yards. He also set up the Steelers on their first possession at the one-yard line after drawing a pass interference call in the endzone. The Steelers were not able to punch it in though after Roethlisberger was sacked on 2nd down by Atari Bigby. Roethlisberger was sacked only twice on the day.
Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 66 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown and Isaac Redman chipped in 49 hard yards on the ground on 10 carries and also scored from 20 yards out. The Steelers did a good job spreading the ball around as 8 different players had receptions today.
The defense shook off the slow and old tag the media gave them this week and held the Seahawks offense to just 31 yards rushing and 159 yards through the air. The Seahawks offense only converted 2 of 12 third downs on the afternoon as quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was sacked 5 times on the afternoon. Troy Polamalu, Larry Foote, James Harrison, James Farrior, LaMarr Woodley and Steve McLendon were all in on the sacks. The Steelers defense did not however record a turnover for the second week in a row.
The Steelers defensive line looked recharged as Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel all had strong showings. Keisel suffered a grade 1 PCL strain of the knee in the second half, but head coach Mike Tomlin said he could have returned if needed in his post game press conference. He chose to get rookie defensive end Cameron Heyward some work instead. Tomlin also said after the game that Roethlisberger will be fine.
The Steelers move to 1-1 on the young season and received some help in the AFC North standings as the Titans beat the Ravens today. The Steelers now head to Lucas Oil Stadium next week to take on the 0-2 Colts who lost to the Browns today.
I will have more post game observations a little later today after I re-watch the game again.
