FINALLY!

The Pittsburgh Steelers successfully snapped their 4 game losing streak, which tied the worst-ever losing streak in the Mike Tomlin era, last Sunday versus the Cleveland Browns.

It wasn’t always pretty, as the weather was unpredictable: winds were expected to reach anywhere from 30-50 mph, along with added snowfall.

The Steelers have been criticized all season long for not being able to beat losing teams on the road, so they had to weather the storm.

Literally.

Well after a week of concerns, Pittsburgh overcame the weather, and their recent bad habits, to come out victorious. There were a few missed opportunities, but all in all the Steelers did more than enough to come out of this one with a win.

For once, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was not asked to put the offense on his shoulders. Ben had a very average day in the intense winds, completing just 23 passes for 167 yards. Some might call this a “poor” performance from Roethlisberger, but he was not asked (or needed) to throw for 3 touchdowns and 300 plus yards. Big Ben made the throws he needed to in order to help his team secure a victory.

Because of the harsh conditions, offensive coordinate Todd Haley had a clear and obvious game plan for Ben; dink and dunk for days. The offense utilized short passes for a majority of the game, mainly in the direction of star running back, Le’Veon Bell.

On the Steelers first drive of the game, Tomlin and Haley would implement a heavy dose of Le’Veon Bell. After a first down achieved by Juice himself, Ben tossed him a beautifully designed delayed screen for an easy first down.

Bell would continue to be the focal point for the opening drive, before committing a false start penalty that ironically killed the drive. The Steelers were forced to settle for 3, but never take those kicks for granted. Chris Boswell connected from 32 yards out; Pittsburgh had just successfully scored points off of a turnover. (A huge key to winning football games.)

Despite that false start penalty, Le’Veon Bell continued to amaze.

On the first drive alone, Bell accumulated 79 total yards of offense.

That’s almost the length of the field.

Juice was nowhere near done yet. #26 would surpass 200 total yards of offense (201) before this one was all said and done, with 146 yards rushing, along with 55 yards receiving.

Instead of the game being placed on Roethlisberger’s shoulders, this time Bell was the one carrying the load, and that was completely okay.

As for the 3rd of the 3 “Killer B’s”, Antonio Brown had himself a solid performance. He did not achieve 100 yards or even score a touchdown, but he had more than a few key receptions in this game (8 to be exact).

One of Big Ben’s deepest throws of the game found AB for 18 yards. It appears as if Brown runs a deep in, or post route. Ben hits AB in-stride for an easy first down, and positive yardage.

Shortly after that play, Cobi Hamilton would get in on the action. It wasn’t much, but Cobi helped haul in a crucial first down on 3rd and 6 that eventually led to 3 more points from Chris Boswell.

Hamilton only caught 2 passes on the day, but that’s two more than his injured counterpart, Sammie Coates had. Coates had absolutely zero impact on offense for Pittsburgh, playing only one snap. (That is understandable, considering he is still recovering from broken fingers.)

The next scoring drive for the Steelers would start off with a masterful display of route running by Antonio Brown. AB runs what looks to be a deep comeback route on Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden. AB sells the fade, sticks his foot in the dirt, and spins Haden like a top.

 

The Browns corner didn’t even know where the ball was until it was in AB’s hands.

The play was good for 21 yards.

Remember when I said Roethlisberger made enough throws to win the game? A great example of one of those throws was coming on this drive. In “vintage” Ben Roethlisberger fashion, #7 connected with Le’Veon Bell deep in Browns territory for a very important first down.

Okay, so why was that vintage Roethlisberger?

Because he made the pass while falling to the ground, and was almost parallel with the field.

After that miraculous throw, it was hard not to feel good about the drive. Time was dwindling away but head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t let that influence his decisions. After already being rewarded an untimed down due to a Browns penalty, Tomlin decided to go for a touchdown, instead of a field goal, with literally no time remaining in the half.

Honestly, this had me nervous. However, I was not ripping Tomlin on social media or in my living room. Instead I tried to see from Tomlin’s point of view. I like the decision to go for it. (In this case.) The game was close at that point, but the Browns had done absolutely nothing to establish themselves as a threat to winning this game.

Had the offense failed, they would have taken to the locker room with a 6-0 lead, and they get the ball at half.

Cleveland’s offense had not done enough (in my opinion) to scare Tomlin into taking the safe points. He opted to keep his foot on the gas, and make the Browns go into halftime feeling robbed and defeated. You all know by now that the Pittsburgh offense did in fact score the touchdown, and had a comfortable 14-0 lead heading into halftime.

Watch as LT Alejandro Villanueva (78) manhandles his assignment, creating the hole for Bell’s 1-yard touchdown run: Jesse James (81) and David DeCastro (66, who pulls from the right side) were unneeded here. Big Ben was correct in saying that the “boys up front wanted it” as “Big Al” made this look like child’s play.

Oh yeah, and Tomlin goes for two.

Hey, if you’re going to rip Mike Tomlin when he gambles and fails, you might as well enjoy it when he succeeds!

The Steelers go in at half, up 14-0.

Uncharacteristically of how the game had gone so far, the Steelers offense put forth a “3 and out” to start things off in the second half. (Good thing we went for the touchdown earlier!)

The second half actually had very little to rave about as far as the offense is concerned. Which, is area for concern! I’ll admit it, this is my complaint about the offense on Sunday. You have to carry your success from the first half to the second. If you do not do that, teams who aren’t the Cleveland Browns can usually beat you.

Luckily, the Browns were the opponent on Sunday, and the offense had already done more than enough to win. Yet, they put up the least offensive effort of any Browns opponent this season, which may be cause for concern.

However, Le’Veon Bell continued to run well, but the only points Big Ben and company accounted for in the 2nd half was another Chris Boswell field goal.

The defense sealed the deal, and the Steelers snapped a 4 game losing streak. Now it’s time to gear up for a Thanksgiving Day thrill! For a 3rd season in a row, the Steelers will face the Indianapolis Colts.

And for the second year in a row, they will be without their start quarterback, Andrew Luck (concussion.)

The Steelers will have their star quarterback, who threw for 6 touchdowns the last time these teams met. (Yes, 6 touchdowns.)

Go get ’em, Big Ben. I need more to write about next time!