The Steelers managed to pull out another one-score victory on Sunday, beating the Green Bay Packers in Pittsburgh, 23-19. Pittsburgh’s offense got off to a hot start, scoring two touchdowns on its first two possessions. However, Green Bay’s offense kept pace with Pittsburgh to start the contest, scoring two touchdowns on its first three possessions of the game.
Head coach Mike Tomlin made a joke at the beginning of his post-game press conference, stating that the win was easy when in reality it was anything but as the game came down to the final play.
“Let’s talk about why it was tight,” Tomlin said to the media on video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “We lost some significant possession downs early in the game. A couple third downs… they not only converted them, but they turned them into scores… those two touchdowns in the first half. We gotta win those downs and fight for those four points. Make people settle for field goals. We weren’t able to do it, and so, the game got tight.”
Green Bay went 69 yards on 10 plays on its first possession of the game, finishing in the end zone on a 3rd and 7 from the Pittsburgh 8-yard line with QB Jordan Love connecting with WR Romeo Doubs for the score. Green Bay converted on third down again on its next touchdown drive with Love completing a pass to WR Jayden Reed for a 35-yard score on 3rd and 16 as Pittsburgh’s defense not only allowed Green Bay to convert on third and long but also get into the end zone to add insult to injury.
“I’m more concerned about those two we gave up on possession downs in the first half, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said about Green Bay’s first-half touchdowns. “We need those eight points. We get people in possession-down football. We need those. Not only did they convert third downs, but they got the ball in the end zone on those two possessions. And so, we take that personally.”
Pittsburgh’s defense has erred on the edge of bend but don’t break for most of the season, entering this game 13th in the league in points allowed, but second-worst in football in yards allowed. They allowed the Packers to get into the end zone early in this game, and luckily the offense was able to get off to a fast enough start against the Packers to keep things close.
The defense shouldn’t have to bail out the offense every game due to its lack of consistency of moving the ball and putting points on the board, but Tomlin does have an expectation that the defense must strive to match. Giving up a touchdown on 3rd and 16 is unacceptable for this unit, being in position to keep Green Bay out of the end zone and hold the Packers to three points instead of putting seven on the board. Those two possession-down touchdowns created an eight-point swing, which kept Green Bay in the game late, needing a touchdown at the end of the game to take the lead rather than being down two scores. The defense has sustained several notable injuries this year, but it must continue to uphold the standard and keep the opposition out of the end zone, especially when in third-and-long situations.
