Quick Yinzing: Takeaways from Steelers win over the Vikings

2-0!

The Steelers made their home debut today in Heinz Field and didn’t disappoint (regarding the final score)! The home crowd was buzzing and the Steelers gave their fans a W!

We’ll have more in-depth analysis later in the week, but for now here are some immediate thoughts on the Steelers win over the Vikings.

Ben’s cannon

Ben Roethlisberger was really slinging the rock today! He went deep early and often… with mixed results. While some of the throws didn’t work out, it led to plenty of big plays, both from catches and pass interference penalties.

Roethlisberger throws one of the best deep balls in the league. It’s beautiful, effortless, and always a joy to see.

Roethlisberger finished the day 22/35 for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns. A solid day and enough to get the win.

Bryant’s back

While Martavis Bryant had a dud performance in week 1, this week he finally had his coming out party!

He got the Steelers their first touchdown of the day with a slant route he took for a 27 yard touchdown. Later in the game he caught a 51 yard deep ball, and also at a point he converted a 3rd down with a contested catch.

Though he only had 3 catches, he managed to display his dangerous speed and athleticism that we all know and love.

It was a great day for Bryant!

Not a great day for the offensive line

As the heading states, the Steelers offensive line didn’t have their best day.

Roethlisberger did his fair share of evading in the pocket due to all the pressure and was brought down twice. Part of it was poor match-ups. Jesse James should not be put on an island with pass-rushers like the Vikings have, that’s not a recipe for success.

The line also struggled opening holes for Le’Veon Bell, who averaged a modest 3.2/yard per carry.

In the offense lines defense though, the Vikings do have one of the best defensive lines in the league.

Questionable playcalls

While I’m not one to try and act like I know more than the Steelers coaches, there were certianly some weird playcalls on offense.

While some worked out great like the shovel pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster for a touchdown, some of the screen passes and play-actions were called at odd times and amounted to 4th downs.

While I’m not in #FireHaley mode, I hope his playcalling improves as the season progresses.

Deceiving numbers

The Steelers ended the day with 2 sacks, but that number doesn’t reflect the performance of the pass-rush. The Steelers defense was bringing pressure constantly and had numerous downs where Case Keenum threw the ball away to avoid a sack.

Whether it was Bud Dupree, or even defensive backs like Sean Davis and Mike Hilton, the Steelers were bringing the heat today and could’ve easily doubled their sack total.

The Case Keenum Show

This game, to an extent, does deserve an astericks because of the last minute start of Case Keenum. Losing Sam Bradford significantly impacted the Vikings gameplan and their subpar performance on offense made this clear.

While the Steelers certainly earned this win, nobody can deny that losing Sam Bradford helped out the Steelers. I’m sure all the Steelers haters will be screaming this all week.

Berry’s beaut

I also have to give a big shout-out to Jordan Berry. In the 4th quarter he had a perfect punt that placed the Vikings on their 1 yard line. Remember everybody, punters are people too.


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