The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Washington Commanders, 28-27, on Sunday to improve to 7-2 on the season (3-0 under Russell Wilson). It was classic Steelers in the sense that it was ugly for large portions of the game, but it kept every single Yinzer on the edge of their barstool or couch cushion until the very end. The Steelers pulled it out in dramatic fashion, with Mike Williams securing the game-winning 32-yard touchdown (his first catch as a Steeler), and Russell Wilson closing out the game with a hard count that drew Commanders defensive tackle Johnny Newton offsides.
Some Commanders fans are still a bit frustrated, believing that if a few calls went their way late in the game, they would’ve been able to pull out a win. Bram Weinstein, the Washington Commanders’ play-by-play man, discussed his frustrations over those decisive plays alongside former Commanders linebacker London Fletcher in “The Booth Review with Bram and Big Fletch” podcast on Monday.
“[The Steelers] were playing with fire. They got lucky that that happened. I trust this quarterback. Which is where I feel a little bit robbed today. In two scenarios — if the referee spotted the ball differently or if there wasn’t this penalty at the end of this game — we could’ve seen Jayden in one of these clutch, end-of-game moments and we just didn’t get to see it yesterday.”
Maybe the Steelers did get a bit lucky at the end of the game. But ultimately, the Commanders didn’t execute down the stretch and the Steelers did. Jayden Daniels had a chance to lead a game-winning drive but failed to convert on 4th and 9 (and yes, the referees made the right call to mark TE Zach Ertz short of the first down). And while the offsides was a fortunate break for the Steelers, Wilson deserves credit for an excellent hard count. We aren’t going to apologize for mental errors by the opposing team.
After giving up a touchdown on the first drive of the second half, the Steelers allowed just 56 total yards and three points the rest of the game. The Commanders weren’t robbed of a “clutch” Jayden Daniels moment because he had most of the second half to come up clutch.
London Fletcher said on the podcast that the Steelers didn’t earn certain plays in Sunday’s game.
“I look at the 3rd-and-8 conversion and also that 2nd-and-20 conversion. In my opinion, Pittsburgh didn’t earn those plays that they made. That’s on us,” the former Washington LB said. “We didn’t get enough depth on the 2nd-and-20 play allowing a window for [Russell Wilson] to be able to throw that ball to [George] Pickens. And we lost track of the running back on the 3rd-and-8 situation. Those weren’t Pittsburgh earning those plays, that’s on us.”
Fletcher was referring to two plays made by the Steelers on their first touchdown drive of the third quarter. The first was this dump-off to Warren, which looks like a pretty routine play where the Steelers took advantage of the Commanders rushing six and leaving the middle of the field open.
The second was this deep slant route to Pickens on 2nd and long later on that drive.
Once again, great execution by Wilson to get the ball out quickly to a playmaker who broke a few tackles. I’m not seeing how the Steelers “didn’t earn” these pickups, or how they were the two plays that decided the game. The Commanders weren’t robbed. They just lost a close, hard-fought game between two very good teams.
