The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to move the ball effectively in their 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, but in the second half, they were aided by some defensive penalties on a scoring drive late in the third quarter, including one by S Derwin James.
It started with James getting flagged for unnecessary roughness, which added 15 yards to a 15-yard reception by TE Pat Freiermuth. It continued with a roughing-the-passer flag against OLB Khalil Mack and a defensive-holding penalty against CB Asante Samuel Jr.
James talked about the penalties after the game, admitting that they gave the Steelers momentum.
“Yes, because it was the second and longs, third and shorts, had one, a couple other guys had one, so it was just like a trickle effect, so we just gotta be clean,” James said via Chargers.com about the penalties giving Pittsburgh momentum.
James was also flagged for a facemask, but he doesn’t believe he hit Freiermuth in the head or neck on the play he was called for unnecessary roughness.
“I don’t want to keep the drive going, I’m trying to get the guy on the ground. I don’t feel like I hit him in the head or neck, but we’ll look at it,” he said.
It’s pretty clear that James hit Freiermuth in the head and it was the right call, but in the heat of the moment, it’s not something he thought happened. I’m sure when he goes back and looks at the tape, he’ll see that it was indeed the right call.
That drive allowed the Steelers to take a 13-10 lead after the game was knotted up at 10-10, so the three penalties wound up being costly. It just built up and allowed the Steelers to move the ball down the field, and as James said, they came in key spots. Samuel’s penalty wiped out a 3rd-and-2 sack while Mack’s penalty gave the Steelers a first down on what would have otherwise been a fourth and short.
Those were weighty moments where the Steelers got help from Los Angeles being undisciplined, and it ultimately played a pretty big factor in the Steelers winning the game. The Steelers wore down the Chargers’ defense, and the lack of discipline could’ve been a result of them playing tired late in the game. Pittsburgh deserves credit for its game plan and not abandoning the run despite a lack of first-half success.
Last week, it was the Steelers costing themselves with penalties. This week, they made their opponent the one to commit costly penalties, and that’s definitely a positive takeaway from this game.
