The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off their second win in three games, the problem being that they have the same number of wins in six games played. They are clearly trending upward, and even the loss during that span came in overtime in a game in which they held the lead late in the fourth quarter.
Until they allowed the Los Angeles Chargers to crawl their way back into Sunday’s game late in the process, it was arguably their most complete performance of the season, spanning not just the offense and the defense, but the special teams units as well, particularly the punting game from Jordan Berry.
As mentioned, Los Angeles threatened late, and even got the ball back with a chance to tie the game with 89 seconds to go. But thanks to a great punt that pinned them down at the one-yard line, they were in poor position, and Cameron Sutton ultimately sealed the game with an interception on their second play of the drive.
“It’s a confidence builder”, he told Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We’re getting off the field, we’re scoring on defense, the offense moved the ball effectively all night. We’re complementing the offense, the offense is helping the defense. When you see that mesh together, it’s hard to beat teams”.
That has been the theme coming out of everybody’s mouths since last week. The Steelers need to be a team, with every unit building upon the success of the others and picking them up when they fail. The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off their second win in three games, the problem being that they have the same number of wins in six games played. They are clearly trending upward, and even the loss during that span came in overtime in a game in which they held the lead late in the fourth quarter.
Until they allowed the Los Angeles Chargers to crawl their way back into Sunday’s game late in the process, it was arguably their most complete performance of the season, spanning not just the offense and the defense, but the special teams units as well, particularly the punting game from Jordan Berry.
As mentioned, Los Angeles threatened late, and even got the ball back with a chance to tie the game with 89 seconds to go. But thanks to a great punt that pinned them down at the one-yard line, they were in poor position, and Cameron Sutton ultimately sealed the game with an interception on their second play of the drive.
“It’s a confidence builder”, he told Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We’re getting off the field, we’re scoring on defense, the offense moved the ball effectively all night. We’re complementing the offense, the offense is helping the defense. When you see that mesh together, it’s hard to beat teams”.
That has been the theme coming out of everybody’s mouths since last week. The Steelers need to be a team, with every unit building upon the success of the others and picking them up when they fail. Complementary football is basically what you’re talking about when you say a team played a ‘complete’ game.
And Sutton contributed in a big way to two phases—I’m sure you can guess which one. Not only did he have the game-clinching interception on defense, in addition to two other passes defensed (including one of which that occurred in the end zone), he also made a big play on special teams to recover an onside kick attempt.
Complementary football can also be the byproduct of camaraderie, and that has been another theme for the Steelers throughout the offseason. It started with the adversity of losing valuable players and media criticism, but the season’s injuries have added another layer to the equation.
The injury bug has bitten them yet again with Stephon Tuitt, but at least they are currently on their bye week to begin to formulate a plan to compensate for the loss. It’s just yet another thing for the group to rally around each other about.
