Quick Yinzing: Steelers handle business early to cruise into win over Chargers
After a chippy week of practice, the Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Los Angeles to face a Chargers team that has been struggling this season as well. Fired up, the Steelers defense took charge immediately and Pittsburgh didn’t let down until the game began dragging in the middle of the third quarter. Although he was not perfect, Devlin Hodges looked decent running an efficient offensive plan in his first NFL start. Thanks to great upfront blocking, James Conner and Benny Snell were also able to play a big part in the 24-17 win in Hollywood fashion.
Hodges was asked to run an offensive game plan that many predicted would include a heavy workload in the rushing department, utilizing both Conner and Snell, after the Denver Broncos exposed the Chargers defense last week. It may not have been exciting to watch but the plan worked.
The one time Hodges attempted to go really deep, the pass didn’t have much zip on it and it was intercepted. There are fans who want a lot more passing, but there was really no reason to utilize it except to get out of long-down situations. When it’s not broken, don’t fix it. There was no reason to stop pounding the rock when Los Angeles couldn’t stop the Steelers from chewing up turf and taking charge of the time of possession.
Defensively, the Steelers outmatched the Chargers offense in nearly every category. If there was a checklist, they certainly hit the key points: get to Philip Rivers and limit his ability to make completed passes, stuff the run game, minimize the number of catches downfield and play with as few mistakes as possible.
Devin Bush certainly looked like he wanted to turn this match into his “resume game”. The rookie linebacker was all over the field. He scooped up a loose ball early in the game and took it to the house for a touchdown. He was playing sideline-to-sideline. Bush did have a few plays where he could have had some big stops had he made better tackles but he continues to be impressive in the middle linebacker position.
The fact that Steelers Nation filled the Chargers’ home stadium and was not only louder but more actively present says a lot about how much Steelers fans wanted this win. The crowd was dense with black and gold.
The Steelers never trailed but they did give up some plays that allowed the Chargers to really make the final score look a lot closer than the gameplay indicated. Los Angeles could not really get too much going until after Stephon Tuitt left the game due to a pectoral injury. The Steelers defense started playing a little softer in the second half than they had in the first. Thankfully, the defensive backfield had a couple of nice knockdowns and one near interception to keep the Chargers from being able to get all the way back into comeback mode.
Cam Sutton was able to intercept the ball late in the fourth quarter and hand the ball back to Hodges for the victory formation. That was preceded by a great play on the “hands” team (special teams) to grab the Chargers’ onside kick attempt.
Overall, the win wasn’t the most beautiful game the Steelers have ever played. For the most part, it was a low-mistake effort against a Chargers team that was outmatched. The Steelers exit the week with a notch on their belt as they head into a bye week to heal up and get ahead of the curve in preparing for the remainder of the 2019-20 NFL regular season.
