Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns Sunday on the way to a 27-10 win over the New York Jets at Heinz Field.
Roethlisberger was 24-of-31 on the day with passing scores to tight end Heath Miller and wide receiver Mike Wallace. The quarterback showed in the Sunday home opener that he remains the best quarterback in the league at avoiding pressure and extending the play as he avoided several would-be sacks as the Steelers moved to 1-1 on the season.
The Steelers took a 3-0 lead on a 10 play opening drive, but the Jets answered back on their first possession that ended with a touchdown pass from quarterback Mark Sanchez to former Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes from 14 yards out.
The Steelers would answer back with another field goal by Shaun Suisham on their next possession only to see the Jets match it.
After that it was all Steelers as Sanchez would only complete 6 passes the rest of the game on the way to a 10-of-27 passing performance.
The Steelers defense hurt themselves early in the game as cornerback Ike Taylor was flagged for defensive pass interference on Holmes on the Jets first drive and inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons was flagged for a personnel foul on an incomplete third down pass by Sanchez on the Jets second drive of the game.
The Steelers defense allowed just 138 yards passing on the day and 90 yards rushing. The Jets also only converted 4-of-12 third downs on the afternoon and they were able to sack Sanchez twice on the day as both LaMarr Woodley and Cameron Heyward registered sacks.
Safety Ryan Clark, who was forced to miss the Steelers season opener last Sunday in Denver due to his sickle cell trait, led the Steelers in tackles with 8 and added a key defensed pass of a ball intended for Jets rookie wide receiver Stephen Hill on the Jets second drive.
Inside linebacker Larry Foote continued his strong play to start the season by chipping in 7 tackles of his own on the afternoon.
All was not great offensively for the Steelers as they rushed for only 66 yards on 28 carries as the Jets front 7 did a great job of stopping the run. Through the first two games of the season the Steelers have rushed for only 141 yards on 54 carries for a 2.61 average.
The key turning point ion the game was Roethlisberger hitting Wallace from 37 yards out on a 3rd down and 16 play with 8:53 left in third quarter that put the Steelers up by 10 points after Suisham added the extra point. Wallace just managed to get both feet in bounds as he adjusted to the under-thrown ball in front of Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie for the score.
The Steelers will now look to make it two wins in a row as they will ravel out west next week to take on the Oakland Raiders.
Notes: The Steelers were without safety Troy Polamalu (calf) and linebacker James Harrison (knee) as both players were inactive for the game. Also inactive for the Steelers were linebacker Stevenson Sylvester, running back Rashard Mendenhall, quarterback Charlie Batch, nose tackle Alameda Ta\’amu and guard Kelvin Beachum. Head coach Mike Tomlin did not report any injuries after the game. Foote and guard Ramon Foster both left the game shortly with injuries but did return.
