During the national anthem, players and staff from the teams did more than just stand for the national anthem – they went onto the field to hold up the American flag with members of the armed forces.
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“We’re not afraid to take shots”, Roethlisberger said. “It was a good learning experience for him, but we’re not going to give up on him and I know he’s not going to give up on himself”.
He trusted his guys to make plays in big moments, no matter who they might be. We’re simply trying to get to 2-0.
“He got beat by a great player” said head coach Jay Gruden of Breeland’s battles with Brown.
“I want the challenge, just like he wants the challenge”, Bryant said. Rogers had just one fair catch but the fact that it wasn’t Antonio Brown calling it is welcome news for the Steelers, who gladly will sit their All-Pro receiver on special teams. This time, the Redskins opted to go for it. Quarterback Kirk Cousins had to settle for a check-down pass to running back Chris Thompson, who was tackled a yard short of the first-down marker.
In the 3rd quarter, Rothelisberger threw his third touchdown pass of the game to Antonio Brown. What are you going to do without Heath Miller?’ My message was, ‘Well, we’ve got (Coates), we’ve got (Rogers), and all the tight ends, and DeAngelo Williams’. He caught one pass for 9 yards, the only time Cousins targeted Doctson.
Of course, the Redskins also paid Josh Norman $75 million in the offseason to bring his shutdown-cornerback skills to DC.
Faced with a similar situation on Pittsburgh’s ensuing drive, the Steelers let loose again, with Roethlisberger hitting Eli Rogers for 19 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Washington 34 with under two minutes to go in the half.
Pittsburgh’s retooled offense finished with five touchdowns and 435 yards, including 300 passing by Roethlisberger. That wasn’t the only time Roethlisberger made something happen when nothing was there. Brown’s first touchdown, for 29 yards down the left sideline, came against Bashed Breeland with safety help from DeAngelo Hall.
Steelers’ fans seemed to have some nerves going into the game. The Redskins also had three converted field goals from Dustin Hopkins.
Monday’s 38-16 loss to the Steelers at FedEx Field did little to ease concerns about the Redskins’ ability to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense.
He added: “They had an excellent game plan”.
The second quarter became a tale of fourth-down success and failure that ended with Pittsburgh ahead 14-6. Kerrigan tried to pick it up, lost it and the Steelers retained possession on their 13 and drove down for their first score. Either that or it was a misconceived, because no one but linebacker Lawrence Timmons was anywhere near Jackson when he caught a medium pass and turned it into a 31-yard gain.
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Roethlisberger ran the no-huddle offense nearly exclusively the entire game.
