A forced fumble by OLB T.J. Watt in overtime set up Chris Boswell for the game-winning field goal in the Steelers’ 23-20 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football.
After a 37-yard kick return by WR Ray-Ray McCloud, the Steelers went three and out on their opening drive. The Steelers forced a three and out on Seattle’s opening drive, with S Tre Norwood making a nice tackle on WR D.K. Metcalf on third down. A 27-yard reception by RB Travis Homer on third and eight set up the Seahawks with a first down, and Seattle advanced into Steelers territory at the Pittsburgh 37 two plays later, but they were forced to punt after a loss of one by RB Alex Collins and an incompletion from QB Geno Smith. The Steelers punted it away after QB Ben Roethlisberger couldn’t connect with WR Diontae Johnson down the right sideline, and Seattle got the ball back at its own 21.
A Seahawks punt at the start of the second quarter gave the Steelers the ball on their own 46. Pittsburgh capitalized on the good field position, with Johnson setting the Steelers up in the red zone with a 25-yard run and then three plays later Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass to RB Najee Harris. K Chris Boswell made the extra point, and the Steelers took a 7-0 lead. After a 14-yard completion to Metcalf, QB Geno Smith was sacked by DL Cameron Heyward and the Seahawks drive stalled out and they punted it away. P Michael Dickson sent it to the Pittsburgh 16, and the Steelers opened the drive with a six-yard and a five-yard completion to Johnson, followed with a 12-yard catch and run by Harris. Two penalties by Seattle and some nice runs by Harris put the Steelers in the red zone, and on third and goal from the Seattle one-yard line, TE Eric Ebron took a jet sweep into the endzone for a touchdown and the Steelers took a 14-0 lead following the 14-play drive, which took nearly seven minutes off the clock.
Back-to-back incompletions and a sack by OLB Alex Highsmith led to a Seattle punt with 36 seconds left, and Dickson’s punt went 42 yards to the Steelers 41. The Steelers couldn’t get a score before the half though, and punted it back to Seattle with 20 seconds left after Johnson went out of bounds on a third down reception. Seattle kneeled to end the half and Pittsburgh went into the locker room with a 14-0 lead.
The Seahawks received the second half kickoff and got their run game going, as RB Alex Collins ran for 37 yards on his first three carries of the drive en route to running for 58 yards on the drive. Collins capped the drive off with a two-yard touchdown run to make it a one-score game with the Seahawks trailing 14-7 after the extra point.
The Steelers responded on their next drive, with Johnson making two catches for 37 yards and McCloud contributing with a 15-yard reception. The Steelers were hurt by a block in the back penalty on second and ten from the Seattle 17, but they scored off a 27-yard Boswell field goal to go up 17-7 with 5:46 left in the third.
A 41-yard reception by TE Gerald Everett that included multiple missed tackles by the Steelers defense put Seattle on the Steelers two-yard line, and two plays later TE Will Dissly caught a touchdown pass to make the score 17-14.
The Steelers went three-and-out and Pressley Harvin III punt went just 32 yards which gave Seattle good field position with the ball on their own 42. Pittsburgh forced Seattle into a third-and-seven, but Homer ran for 26 yards and a first down. On third and three from the Seattle 7, Highsmith and DL Chris Wormley sacked Smith for a 15-yard loss, and the Seahawks settled for a 40-yard field goal by Jason Myers to tie the game at 17 with 12:59 left.
Pittsburgh opened the drive with a 10-yard run by Harris and an 11-yard run by RB Kalen Ballage, but Roethlisberger fumbled on third down and the Seahawks recovered at the Steelers’ 35-yard line. A first down holding penalty by Seattle negated a big gain by Collins, but on first and 20 RB DeeJay Dallas ran for ten yards. On second and ten, T.J. Watt deflected Smith’s pass to set up a crucial third down. Another big stop by Norwood against Freddie Swain resulted in a four-yard loss and forced Seattle to punt.
Roethlisberger hit WR Chase Claypool for a 12-yard gain on second down, but on third-and-nine from the Pittsburgh 35 the two couldn’t connect and the Steelers had to punt. Harvin’s punt went 50 yards, and WR Tyler Lockett’s three-yard return left the Seahawks with the ball at their 18 with 7:29 left in the fourth quarter. Seattle went three-and-out, and a 14-yard punt return by McCloud gave the Steelers the ball at their own 26 to start the drive.
Harris ran for four yards to open the drive and then Freiermuth caught a ball for seven and a first down. A few plays later, Harris ran for 10 to move to the Seattle 41, and then picked up another five on his next carry. A deep ball to Claypool was incomplete and Claypool was called for offensive pass interference, and on third-and-15 Harris picked up 12 yards on a reception to put the Steelers in field goal range. Boswell made a 52-yard field goal to give the Steelers a 20-17 lead with 1:29 left in the game.
Seattle picked up seven on first down off a catch by Dissly, and then Dallas ran for six and a first down. On third-and-inches from the Seattle 47, Smith hit Metcalf for 11 yards and a first down to move to the Steelers 42. On the next play, Smith and Dallas connected again, and Dallas fumbled after a seven-yard gain but recovered his own fumble. Seattle called its last timeout, and on second and three with 18 seconds left, Metcalf had a 12-yard reception and fumbled, but WR Freddie Swain recovered at the Steelers 25. After a spike by Seattle with one second left, the officials reviewed the Metcalf catch and put three seconds back on the clock. Another spike by Seattle gave them a field goal with two seconds left, and Jason Myers tied the game at 20 on a 43-yard field goal with no time left to send the game to overtime. Seattle won the overtime coin toss and started OT with the ball.
After a one yard run to start overtime, Tyler Lockett caught a pass over the middle of the field for 21 yards. But then Dallas lost four on a run on a nice play by Heyward, before Smith found Dallas for ten. On third-and-four from the Seattle 45, T.J. Watt sacked Smith for a loss of 14 and forced a Seattle punt. With the ball at their 20, Pittsburgh started the drive with a four-yard run by Harris, and then Freiermuth caught his seventh ball of the night for a two-yard gain. Ray-Ray McCloud was short of the sticks on his catch on third down, and the Steelers punted. Harvin booted a 56-yard punt that pinned the Seahawks at their 15. On first down, Smith tried to scramble but he was stripped by Watt, and Devin Bush recovered the fumble at the Pittsburgh 16. Roethlisberger took two knees to center the ball for Boswell, and then Boswell came out to hit the game-winning 37-yard field goal to give the Steelers a 23-20 win.
Next week, the Steelers have their bye. Coming out of the bye, they’ll face the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland at FirstEnergy Stadium at 1:00 p.m. on October 31.
