Though not entirely as intended, the Pittsburgh Steelers seem set to see a whole lot more of rookie DL Keeanu Benton in the near future. Having already played a couple dozen snaps in the season opener, his role is bound to expand with star Cameron Heyward going on the Reserve/Injured List and due to have groin surgery.
That was one of the injuries added on to the insult of a 30-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the Steelers’ first season opener at home in a number of years. They do get to stay in Pittsburgh next week against the visiting Cleveland Browns as well. And Benton says they will be fueled by Sunday’s events.
“I think we’re gonna come in this week with a different type of grudge”, he told reporters on Monday, via the team’s website. “Nobody likes losing, so just coming off that loss, a lot of things are gonna need to be detailed up more. A lot of things are gonna be a lot more nitpicky from coaches and players. We should go in having a good week”.
The loss was tied for the Steelers’ sixth-worst defeat at home, in the regular season or postseason, during the Super Bowl era, losing by 23. While they had some doozies in the late ‘80s, including the infamous 51-0 loss to the Browns, this is their worst loss at home since 2006 against the Baltimore Ravens.
So what to do about it? Hopefully what they did last time. They followed up that loss to the Ravens with a 23-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, which included a 67-yard game-winning touchdown pass from QB Ben Roethlisberger to a then-rookie WR Santonio Holmes in overtime.
The last loss this big before that was in 1991 to Washington. They also followed up that disappointment with a win, in this case a 26-14 victory over the Houston Oilers. The Steelers only trailed once and briefly in that game, which featured four field goals by Gary Anderson, making up their first nine and last three points.
While this might sound like ancient history, the good news is that head coach Mike Tomlin has a strong history of coming back from bad losses in his own right. As we highlighted last night, he is 10-2 in games following a loss of 20 points or more.
Still, this will certainly be a challenge against an improving Browns team, even if they just lost their starting right tackle and will be starting a rookie, presumably, against former Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt. By the way, Watt had three sacks on Sunday.
While the Steelers shouldn’t need any added motivation to try to beat a key divisional opponent at home on Monday Night Football, they have it anyway. They have a nasty taste in their mouth, and the Browns, as they have so often been in the past, are their Listerine.
