The Pittsburgh Steelers won 20-16 on Thursday Night Football against the Tennessee Titans. In the end, it took another fourth-quarter comeback for QB Kenny Pickett and the Steelers’ offense, but what made that comeback possible was the quick start. For the first time this season, the Steelers scored a touchdown on their opening drive. It was also just the second opening-drive touchdown of Pickett’s career.
Rookie OT Broderick Jones started his second game of the season, but this time he replaced RT Chukwuma Okorafor who was benched for something he said in last Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mike Tomlin didn’t mention that in the postgame press conference, but he did say that the Steelers started Jones to provide a spark. He performed well in his first start at left tackle in Week Five, and at first glance he had a pretty solid game here at right tackle as well. There were people rightfully wondering if it was a good idea to be moving him to the right side, but this is something that was practiced earlier in the season when Okorafor was dealing with a concussion.
Jones, when speaking to the media after the game, discussed the need for a fast start.
“If we won the coin toss, we’re going to get the ball and show we trying to set the tone of the game,” Jones said in a postgame media availability uploaded by Amanda Godsey. “It was good. You know, just being able to go out there, first drive of the game scoring a touchdown, I feel like it set the tone for the game.”
The Steelers did set the tone, and those early points were necessary to overcome a 10-penalty performance by the team. Jones helped lead the way to the team’s highest rushing total in a game this season with 166 yards. They even pulled Jones a few times to get him blocking on the move, which showed off some of the athletic traits he was drafted for.
That was the third game this season that the Steelers rushed for over 100 yards, and they had great balance with the one-two punch of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, rushing for 88 and 69 yards respectively. The offense wasn’t perfect, but it has the beginnings of an identity that the Steelers can run with down the stretch of the season.
