Folks, they’ve done it again. They’ve gave everyone in Pittsburgh a heart attack as another one-score game ends with an end-of-game interception for the Steelers.
Damontae Kazee gets the honor this go around, picking off Green Bay’s Jordan Love to end the game.
And once again, the Steelers were outgained in yardage, but somehow walk away with a win, and improve to now 6-3 on the year.
The Steelers offense came out strong for the second straight week, and the second week with offensive coordinator Matt Canada on the sidelines. Pittsburgh gets the run game going early, and it results in a touchdown.
Good, solid runs by both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren help power a Steelers drive that also made it a point to target the disgruntled George Pickens with their first passing play of the day.
Harris would cap things off, with a wide open lane thanks to some great blocking by his offensive line to allow him to walk into the endzone.
Green Bay, however, were not to be pushed around in this game. Jordan Love and the Packers offense with an equally long drive (12 plays) and that results in a touchdown of their own.
These two opening drives helped set the tone of what the game was going to be, and this was pointed out on the CBS broadcast: the Steelers were running the ball to help them throw it, and the Packers were throwing the ball to help them run it.
Kwon Alexander, who was taking a big step up in this game due to injuries at the linebacker position for Pittsburgh, went down early with a leg injury and did not return.
Meanwhile, the Steelers offense began the game looking like a real NFL offense. And that extended beyond the first drive.
Jaylen Warren finished off another run-heavy touchdown drive to make it a 14-7 game for the Steelers. On this drive, however, some awful decision making by Kenny Pickett almost ends the drive in an interception. Upon review, Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon had his second foot out of bounds when he made the pick, so the ball remains with Pittsburgh.
After Harris got the first rushing touchdown, Warren gets this one.
After forcing a three-and-out, Pittsburgh is able to tack on a Chris Boswell field goal to make it 17-7, and any Steelers fan might feel somewhat comfortable about how the game was going to this point.
But don’t you worry, the Steelers will make things much closer in no time. Love takes Green Bay on a touchdown drive that ends in a 35-yard completion on 3rd and 16.
Jayden Reed catches the ball with two Steeler defenders in the area to put 6 on the board for the Packers.
However, something that seemed somewhat minuscule at the time ended up looming large later on in the game.
Patrick Peterson is able to block the extra point attempt to make it a 4 point game at the time.
Coming out of the half, the Packers are able to chip away at the Steelers defense, and puts up back to back field goal drives, the latter of which gives Green Bay the lead.
Pittsburgh responds, however, and Boswell gives the Steelers a one point lead at 20-19 heading into the fourth quarter.
Fourth quarter Kenny Pickett was missing this time, however, as the Steelers were forced to punt on two of their three fourth quarter drives.
Pittsburgh was able to get a field goal to bring their lead back to 4 (which meant a lot more than 3) as the Packers tried to mount a comeback.
On their second to last drive of the game, the Packers were marching towards the endzone, bending Pittsburgh’s defense in half as Love moved the ball forward. However, in a bid for the endzone, Patrick Peterson makes his second splash play of the day, batting away a pass intended for Christian Watson.
That ball ended up in the hands of Keanu Neal, who intercepts the pass and runs out with it.
Even though the Steelers are forced to punt on their ensuing drive, the Packers are left with just about a minute left to go and no timeouts as they hope for a miracle.
Love dials up a beautiful strike to Reed for an instant 46-yard gain, one that got the Packers in some good territory to start.
But as time became more and more of an issue, the Packers got more desperate. Green Bay stood with one chance at Pittsburgh’s 16-yard line with 5 seconds left. Love has to go for the endzone, and the Steelers defense is guarding it with every secondary player they have.
In the end, Kazee gets the pick and runs it back to near the 30-yard line of the Steelers. The two teams get heated after Kazee suffered a late hit as time expired.
Never a dull week for Steelers Nation. Never.
More thoughts down below:
-Steelers are outgained once again, but Pittsburgh dominated in the running game. The Steelers had nearly 100 more yards on the ground than the Packers did.
-Both Warren and Harris had season highs for rushing yards in this game. This one-two punch for the Steelers is really heating up at the right time.
-Pat Pete, much maligned for his play this season, was very good in this game, for maybe the first time all year. We’ll have more on him tomorrow.
-That extra point blocked proved massive as the game entered its final minutes. With the Packers down 4 instead of 3, they had to go for a TD. They were in range for a field goal, and if they only need that to tie it, who knows how this game ends.
-Had this game gone to overtime, it would have been the first time the Steelers played in overtime since Week 1 last season.
-As I predicted, the first passing play of the game for the Steelers went to George Pickens. But other than that, he did not have a huge day. Pickens had 3 catches for 45 yards. He had what would have been the game-sealing catch, but a penalty erased that for him.
-Similarly, Diontae Johnson was limited today. Just 1 catch for 17 yards, but he had a big drop late in the game on a pass he should have had.
-TJ Watt surpasses his brother JJ in sacks during their first 100 games, and TJ has a chance to build on that. He’s got three more games before he reaches the big 100.
–Odd stat of the game: Today was not Kenny Pickett’s day. He had only 126 passing yards, but believe it or not, that’s not his lowest total this season in games he completed. Pickett had 114 vs Houston back in Week 4.
(Featured photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
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