Perspective Of An Average Steelers Fan: Georgia Is Now A Sweet Memory

Coming into this game, the initial concern was the offensive line. Troy Fautanu was recovering from a knee injury. Zack Frazier was making his first NFL start at center. Broderick Jones had played poorly in preseason games. And guard Isaac Seumalo was out with a pectoral injury. Then the quarterback situation turned murky late in the week. Russell Wilson reinjured his calf, Mike Tomlin’s decision on who to start delayed until the morning of the game.

I had fewer concerns on defense. Mainly who would be the nickel cornerback?

But I had a nagging concern on special teams. In my recap of the last preseason game in Detroit, I stated, “Pittsburgh is in dire need of effective gunners for long punts. Won’t be surprised if they pick someone up on the waiver wire.” The Steelers did sign receiver Ben Skowronek to their practice squad and is a special teams ace but not necessarily a gunner. Would he be converted into that role?

My initial optimism faded as gameday grew closer with the quarterback question unanswered. I moved Week 1 into the loss column after initially believing it would be a win.

Gameday Experience

I planned to attend a Pirates game months ago with a few alumni rugby players from my alma mater Penn West California (the new name still sounds like a penitentiary). When I finally mentioned the date to my wife Sue a few days ago, she was quick to point out that the Steelers were playing that day. I’m an idiot.

In any case, the Pirates beat the Nationals, 7-3. And I crossed the street to my hotel to catch the end of the Steelers game. I had of course been checking the progress from my phone all during the baseball game. Note to self:  whenever planning an event after Labor Day, always check the Steelers’ schedule before setting the date.

Steelers Offense

Justin Fields was named the starter with Russell Wilson relegated to emergency quarterback 90 minutes before kickoff. Dan Moore was at left tackle and Broderick Jones on the right. Spencer Anderson started at left guard for Seumalo. Anderson had started every position on the line at the University of Maryland except for left guard. Go figure.

The offense benefitted from three defensive takeaways. Their average starting position was their own 37-yard line compared to the 28 for Atlanta. But they could not score touchdowns. Instead, six scoring drives were capped by Chris Boswell field goals.

George Pickens caught some key passes, including a 41-yarder with seconds left in the first half. However, the replay official reversed the call, saying he was out of bounds. But Justin Fields went right back to Pickens, who made a 33-yard catch. That allowed Boswell to score with three seconds left to make it 10-9 Atlanta. Officials took away yards after the catch on another reception by saying Pickens was down by contact. But the video shows no one touching Pickens.

He was also called for offensive pass interference. But it sure looked like a clean catch with no push off to me.

Najee Harris ran for 70 tough yards including a 20-yard run late in the game. Justin Fields added 57 rushing yards. And more importantly, he protected the ball with no interceptions or lost fumbles. Atlanta sacked Fields twice. But overall, the offensive line held its own considering it’s patched together.

Questionable Play Call

Mike Tomlin drove fans nuts when he went for it on 4th and 1 from the 6-yard line with 7:10 to play. A field goal would give the Steelers an eight-point lead. But Fields converted a 3rd-and-5 play with his legs a few possessions later. That first down kept the drive alive for the eventual sixth field goal that left Atlanta with 31 seconds and no timeouts.

Steelers Defense

The Steelers delivered a powerful performance despite the officials negating two T.J. Watt strip-sacks and fumble recoveries.

The Steelers held Atlanta to a field goal on its opening drive. Peyton Wilson shed a blocker to tackle Bijan Robinson at the 6-yard line on third down to prevent the touchdown.

DeShon Elliot intercepted Kurt Cousins in the first half. And Donte Jackson intercepted another Cousins pass in the fourth quarter.

T.J. Watt timed the snap and strip-sacked Cousins near the end of the half, but the officials called him offsides. Atlanta scored to take a 10-6 lead on the next play. Here is the play on which Watt was called offsides.

The Steelers shut out Atlanta in the second half. Atlanta’s first drive in the second half started near midfield after a long punt return. But Watt recovered a fumble at the 38-yard line shutting down a scoring opportunity.

Another Watt strip-sack was negated by Donte Jackson getting penalized for illegal use of hands. But Montravius Adams sacked Cousins to force another punt. Jackson made up for his penalty by intercepting Cousins at the Pittsburgh 47 with 2:47 to play and Pittsburgh clinging to a 15-10 lead. This takeaway came right after Cameron Johnston got hurt and Boswell had to punt. Great momentum shifter.

Watt sacks Cousins to end the game and takes a bow.

Special Teams

Special teams are an underappreciated facet of the game where one big play can shift momentum or even decide the game. The new kickoff rules should result in more kick returns. And test the special team coordinator’s ability to adapt to the changes.

I break special teams into three phases: kickoffs, punting, and scoring (field goals and extra points.) Here is an overview of the special teams play during the game:

KICKOFFS

Chris Boswell kicked off six times. Former Steeler Ray-Ray McCloud returned the opening kickoff 29 yards to the Atlanta 30-yard line. McCloud returned another kick 27 yards to the 28. Boswell kicked the other four kickoffs, including all three in the second half, into the end zone for touchbacks.

Bradley Pinion kicked off three times. All three kicks landed in the end zone for touchbacks.

Next year, the NFL should place touchbacks from the end zone at the 35-yard line if they want to encourage more returns. I give a slight edge to the Steelers since they did stop one kick return short of the 30-yard line.

THE STATS

Advantage Steelers.

PUNTING

Cameron Johnston punted twice averaging 51.5 yards. But Avery Williams returned a 58-yard punt 28 yards to midfield. That return dropped Johnston’s net average punt to 37.5 yards. Unacceptable. And worse, Miles Killebrew was penalized as he blocked a rusher into Johnston resulting in a knee injury. Chris Boswell came on for a 43-yard punt. Scotty Miller dropped Williams for no gain on the return. Kudos to Boswell for covering for the injured Johnston. The Steelers used Miller, Darius Rush, and Ben Skowronek as gunners. If they fail to effectively cover punts in the next game, Pittsburgh should sign a free agent such as Miles Boykin.

Bradley Pinion punted four times. He averaged 51.5 yards a punt, netting 40.8. Calvin Austin III returned all four averaging 11.8 yards. His longest return was reduced by 10 yards due to illegal blocks above the waist by Miles Killebrew and Mark Robinson.

Though the net punting by the two teams was very close, I gave the edge to Atlanta since Pittsburgh lost its punter (and holder).

THE STATS

*A Johnston punt negated by penalty on Miles Killebrew

Advantage Falcons.

FIELD GOALS AND EXTRA POINTS

Chris Boswell had a career day. The first kicker to make three field goals longer than 50 yards in the same game. He did all the scoring for Pittsburgh with six field goals. Scotty Miller was the holder for the final kick.

Younghoe Koo made a 24-yard field goal. And kicked an extra point.

THE STATS

Advantage Steelers

YOUR HOT TAKES DURING THE GAME

Thank you, Ross McCorkle, for keeping us up to date on the game’s Live Update and Discussion Threads. Steelers Depot respondents contributed 1,244 first-half comments. Respondents added 1,368 more second-half comments.  Here are the top three comments from each half. I don’t know the algorithm used by Disqus but here is how they stacked it up:

The top first-half comments covered officiating and a reminder about running back Najee Harris:

1. DesertSteel’s top first-half comment just looked for a level playing field from the NFL officials: “Wow, refs see OPI but not Harris getting his helmet ripped off? SMH”
2. S7EELERNA7ION could not believe the officials did not see what his eyes were seeing. “Where are the holding calls on 90. Dude is getting assaulted.” And then the phantom offsides call that negated a strip-sack and fumble recovery.
3. Sixburghfan likes what he sees in our running back. “Say what you want but Najee is tough.”

The second-half comments addressed Mike Tomlin’s decision to go for it instead of chipping in a field goal to give the Steelers an eight-point lead:

1. DesertSteel tops both halves. “No way we can lose now! Tomlin- Hold my beer.”
2. JrzeeSteeler continued the theme. “WTF??? Just kick the field goal and go up by 8!”
3. Jason Anderson was impressed with the Steelers’ defense. “This defense is gonna be a problem for the other teams now that they’re getting some rest. 3 and outs seriously hampered them the last few years.”

Impressive job respondents! You easily exceeded the standard 1,000 comments per half. Hope you all enjoy the banter on the live update and discussion threads!

CONCLUSION

Arthur Smith called a conservative game with Justin Fields subbing for Russell Wilson. Sadly, Pittsburgh did not score any touchdowns. But the Steelers did sustain drives that controlled the clock and avoided turning the ball over. That 35:36 to 24:24 time-of-possession advantage kept the Steelers’ defense fresh while wearing out Atlanta. Najee Harris ran tough. And Justin Fields kept some drives alive with his legs.

Nice to see Pat Freiermuth targeted. George Pickens delivered a robust performance with two explosive plays for 40 and 33 yards. A third was negated by a phantom offensive pass interference penalty. The offensive line did give up two sacks, Spencer Anderson responsible for one. But overall, the unit’s performance was okay.

T.J. Watt is beastly. Despite losing two strip-sacks to the officials, he ended the game with a sack and fumble recovery. The defense created three takeaways. And contained Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson. The Falcons’ longest play was a desperation pass from Kirk Cousins to Ray-Ray McCloud to avoid a sack for 20 yards. New Steelers Payton Wilson, DeShon Elliott, and Donte Jackson all made big plays. The line looked stout.

Chris Boswell kicked six field goals, including three beyond 50 yards in a career day. He even chipped in a punt after Cameron Johnston got hurt. Pittsburgh now must find a punter. Brad Wing and Corliss Waitman are available. But the gunners gave up a long 28-yard punt return. Pittsburgh may have to find another gunner in free agency if some combination of Scotty Miller, Darius Rush and Ben Skowronek can’t get it done.

We’ll have to hear from Mike Tomlin about any other injuries during his Tuesday press conference. The big question is who will quarterback the team in Denver. Did Justin Fields do enough to keep the job? Or does Tomlin go with Russell Wilson if his calf responds to therapy? Here we go!

Your Song Selection

I always like to include a bit of music. Atlanta, Georgia, was on my mind. But now it’s just a sweet memory. Here is Georgia on My Mind performed by Ray Charles.