Feats of Strength: Patrick Peterson’s big plays, resurgent run game overcome Steelers’ shortcomings vs. Packers
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I’m not sure how many more weeks the Pittsburgh Steelers can survive on the last defensive possession as the opposing quarterback throws the ball to the goal line with the game in the balance.
But they sure seem to be making a habit of it.
The Steelers never win pretty. Or in a convincing fashion. Or without forcing their fans into throwing up due to anxiety at the end of every game.
Yet, with Sunday’s 23-19 victory over the Green Bay Packers, coach Mike Tomlin’s team is 6-3 and has won four of its last five. Now the club either has to improve on that as it steps into divisional competition on the road the next two weeks (at Cleveland and Cincinnati), or these roller-coaster games are going to seem all the more topsy-turvy with AFC North stakes on the line.
For now, though, let’s see what went right for the Steelers in our weekly “Feats of Strength” and where this ride nearly went off the rails in our “Airing of Grievances.”
Feats of strength
A pair for Pat Pete: Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson made two huge plays. After a second-quarter touchdown pass from Jordan Love to Jayden Reed, Peterson blocked an extra-point try from Green Bay kicker Anders Carlson.
Extra point is blocked by @P2‼️
????: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/8t9mVQBjeN
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 12, 2023
Peterson’s special teams play allowed the Steelers to stay within a minus-2 to plus-4 margin throughout the rest of the game. That proved especially large when the Packers were moving the ball late in the fourth quarter, down 23-19. Instead of having the option to play for a potential game-tying field goal, Love forced a ball into close coverage by Peterson on a second-down pass into the end zone. It was intended for Christian Watson, but Peterson got a piece of it, and Keanu Neal intercepted the deflection.
What a play by @P2 and @Keanu_Neal ????
????: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/jsAtyqMKU2
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 12, 2023
“I did not intentionally tip it to him. I just knew we had a half-field high safety. That’s why I didn’t swat it down. I just wanted to put enough air on it so someone could come up under it and get it,” Peterson said.
The Packers again were forced to think only about a touchdown on their next possession, which started with just over a minute on the clock. That series ended up with a Damontae Kazee interception at the 2-yard line to close the game as time expired.
Turn back the clock: A bunch of Steelers alumni from the 1990s and early 2000s were back in the building. The current Steelers were wearing the old-school block number uniforms. It was a traditional matchup between two NFL flagship clubs.
It felt like the tone was set for another successful, throwback day on the ground from the Steelers run game.
Not only did the Steelers replicate last week’s stellar rushing performance against the Tennessee Titans, they surpassed it. After 166 rushing yards last week, the Steelers amassed 205 yards Sunday.
“We said we wanted to be physical up front and run the ball more. So coach (Matt) Canada did a great job getting those runs in, and we executed them to the best of our ability,” said rookie tackle Broderick Jones.
Getting Jones in as a starter on the right side has helped the cause. Jaylen Warren led the way for the Steelers with 101 yards and a touchdown. Najee Harris had 82 yards and a score. The two backs also chipped in with a combined 23 yards receiving on five catches.
A year ago, the run game seemed to find its stride after the bye in Week 9. The bye was earlier this year, but the midway point appears to have become a line of demarcation for the Steelers ground game again.
Changing the narrative: After a year’s worth of hammering the Steelers for getting off to awful starts, the club is doing a better job of building momentum early.
The offense scored on its first possession last week against the Titans. It did so again on Sunday. The Steelers took the opening possession and marched 75 yards on nine plays. Seven of the nine plays were either catches or runs by Harris and Warren.
The drive culminated in a 4-yard score by Harris.
DON’T LOOK NOW BUT….
The Steelers offense looks ????????
Touchdown Najee Harris on the opening drive ????#NFL #HereWeGo #PITvsGB
pic.twitter.com/5UZWxlHGNC— The Sports Forum (@DenverForum) November 12, 2023
“All of this has turned around. We’re scoring on the first drive now, two weeks in a row. It’s all O-line,” Harris said.
The line also deserves credit for the work it did in the passing game Sunday. Quarterback Kenny Pickett was only sacked once and hit three other times on 27 dropbacks.
Ball control: Unfortunately, the offense faded after that first quarter. It didn’t score another touchdown. But it also didn’t give the Packers any free possessions or good field position with turnovers.
Pickett ended the game with no interceptions for the fifth game in a row. Mitch Trubisky had two against Jacksonville in Game 7, but those have been the Steelers’ only two turnovers since the bye.
Meanwhile, the Steelers got those two interceptions from Neal and Kazee to win the turnover battle 2-0 on the day. The Steelers are now plus-10 in turnover margin, tied for the best mark in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals as of the conclusion of their win over the Packers.
That said, Pickett almost threw an interception on a pass to Warren at the end of the third quarter. And he got a lucky break on what was deemed to be an incomplete forward pass to Warren in the second quarter. Upon further review, it appeared to be a backward lateral. However, even though the Packers challenged the call, coach Matt LaFleur lost the challenge.
Had the call gone in his team’s favor, Green Bay would’ve taken over at roughly the Steelers’ 15-yard line.
Flag-free: After last week’s 17 assessed penalties Thursday night, this week’s officiating crew seemed to have much less of an agenda to get their arms loose throwing flags.
Only eight total penalties went into the final box score. The Steelers were only flagged for three of them.
Nine games into the season, the Steelers have 49 penalties. That’s the eighth fewest in the NFL.
Airing of grievances
Rapid fire: Let’s air our grievances all at once. Sometimes, collective venting helps the emotional process.
• The passing game was more or less impotent. It netted just 14 completions and 126 yards. Granted, Pickett did have two potentially big fourth-quarter passes wiped out. One by a penalty against Calvin Austin. Another came when Diontae Johnson couldn’t haul in a contested pass on a nice throw by Pickett deep down the sideline.
• For as good as the run game was, the Steelers could’ve run the ball even more. There were a pair of third-and-2 snaps when the Steelers decided to throw. One in the second quarter, one in the fourth. With the passing game not clicking, it would’ve been wiser to run in those situations, especially since the play in the fourth quarter involved a sixth offensive lineman and Darnell Washington.
• The inside linebacking core is a mess right now. Cole Holcomb was lost for the year in the win over Tennessee. And now Kwon Alexander has reportedly torn an Achilles. Elandon Roberts and Mark Robinson are good against the run, and they held up as best as they could Sunday, but neither one is a pass-coverage specialist. Expect teams to look for ways to exploit some mismatches in that regard for the rest of the season.
• Green Bay didn’t wind up with a single receiver who had more than 100 yards. But they did feature four players with at least one catch of 20 yards. Some receivers had multiple catches of that range, including tight end Luke Musgrave, who had one catch for 36 yards and another for 28. Jayden Reed had a TD of 35 yards and another catch for 46. The Packers totaled eight third-down conversions, and two more on fourth downs.