Breaking down the good, the bad, and the ugly in the Steelers win over the Chargers
The Good, Bad, and Ugly column is a breakdown of several segments of each game into each of a grading category of “good”, “bad”, or “ugly”. To get to the nitty gritty, Joe Kuzma dissects three moments from each game which could be best classified as each of those labels.
Good – Hodges’ first TD
Steelers Ball: 2nd Quarter 6:42 – 3rd-and-8 LAC 26
With a 14-0 lead already in the Steelers would manage their best offensive drive of the season in the second quarter.
Led by first-time starter Devlin Hodges, the rookie quarterback would find his explosive running back James Conner in the flat on 3rd-and-8 from the Chargers 26-yard line.
Conner would then break a tackle near the line of scrimmage, get the first down, and continue down the sideline nearly untouched for a touchdown.
The score would put the Steelers up 21-0 and double as Hodge’s first career touchdown pass.
Bad – Rivers backwards pass
Chargers Ball: 1st Quarter 11:01 – 2nd-and-10 LAC 21
Why was this “bad” you may ask?
While the play was worse for the Chargers, who gave up seven points as a result of an awful backwards pass by Philip Rivers, the Steelers defenders kind of stood around looking at the ball on the ground.
Rookie LB Devin Bush, in only his sixth game as a pro, had the awareness to realize no whistle had blown, picking up the rock and carrying it a short distance and diving into the end zone to put the Steelers up with an early defensive touchdown.
Ugly – Bad Snap
Steelers Ball: 3rd Quarter 8:15 – 3rd-and-2 LAC 2
The Steelers were cruising in the third quarter 21-0 and had an opportunity to definitively put the game away. However, a bad snap on 3rd-and-2 from the Chargers 2-yard line saw Devlin Hodges scrambling for a football that was poor snapped behind him.
Looking like a wily veteran rather than an undrafted unknown, “Duck” barehanded the ball, quickly snagging the usually difficult to snag pigskin, looking to see if he was already outside of the tackle box and shifting over slightly to heave the ball well downfield and out-of-bounds, near a “receiver”.
It was a heck of a heads up play by the first-time starter, saving the Steelers a loss in yards by either a sack or intentional grounding penalty, yet, they had to settle for a field goal which could’ve kept the Chargers in the game (and as it nearly would late in the fourth quarter).
