After a rather dreadful performance in the first three quarters of action from the offense of the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday at SoFi Stadium, a switch was flipped once the clocked moved into the fourth quarter.
In the final 15 minutes of action, Pittsburgh’s offense roared to life and put the game away, storming back from a 17-10 deficit to win 24-17, never giving the Los Angeles Rams’ high-powered offensive attack the football back late in the game.
That performance from the offense in the final 15 minutes, which featured a power-rushing attack and a consistent passing attack with some big plays sprinkled in, is the exact type of football the Steelers are aiming for on that side of the football, according to Pickett.
“Playing the type of football we wanna play. That’s what we’ve been working towards,” Pickett said to reporters following the win, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “I think the run game balanced the pass game really well. It was kind of everything that we’ve been working towards, you start to see it in that fourth quarter there.
“It was good to see.”
It definitely was good to see from the offense, and the timing couldn’t have been better.
Entering the fourth quarter Sunday, the Steelers had just 110 yards of total offense and were an abysmal 1-for-7 on third downs against the Rams. That led to the Steelers being in a 17-10 hole, a score that was really only close because of T.J. Watt’s interception to open the second half, setting up Kenny Pickett’s 1-yard rushing touchdown — the first rushing touchdown of the season for the Black and Gold.
But in the fourth quarter, things changed dramatically.
The Steelers racked up 190 yards of total offense in the final 15 minutes, scoring two touchdowns while stringing together two 10-play drives, putting the game away for good.
The run game of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren really started to hammer away at the Rams’ defensive front, and Pickett started hitting some big-time throws to Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, opening up the offense dramatically while allowing it to get into a rhythm.
The Steelers were the real bully in the fourth quarter. For the first time in a long time, they played to their strength and really established an identity when it mattered most. It led to a big-time win, too.
It was good to see. Hopefully there’s more of that moving forward.
