The Steelers’ most important number from Monday might be 143: DeAngelo Williams’ rushing yards total after a 26-carry, two-touchdown night. It allowed Ben Roethlisberger to repeatedly get the matchups he wanted in the passing game, most notably Antonio Brown on Redskins cornerback Brashaud Breeland.
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We’re not losing faith in Breeland either, but if the Redskins don’t want to move Norman all over the formation, the least they could do is give the other cornerback some safety help, which appeared to be nonexistent on Monday.
Rookie wide receiver Josh Doctson, who played in his first game after he recovered from an Achilles’ injury, participated both during individuals and one-on-one drills.
The Steelers’ offense will make a lot of opposing defenses look bad this year, so the Redskins can take some solace in that fact going forward. Redskins Coach Jay Gruden didn’t disclose his injury. “I thought largely, our guys handled themselves appropriately and didn’t get consumed by the emotions that comprised the recent elements of the matchup”, Tomlin said.
Brown caught eight passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns. His 15-yard touchdown run with 5:48 clinched the win and his 6-yard scoring run rubbed it in the Redskins’ noses. He has also started at least 11 games in five straight seasons, with at least that many starts eight times over his previous 12 National Football League seasons. “I don’t feel really good about anybody’s performance including mine when we lose a football game”, the head coach said when asked about Cousins’ play. “We’re in a competitive division and the fact that the staffs have been in place in many of those places for an extended period of time just speaks to how high the level of the playing field is in our division”, Tomlin said. In the Bengals backfield Jeremy Hill rushed for 31 yards and Giovanni Bernard rushed for 25 yards while A.J. Green was the top receiver catching 12 passes for 180 yards including a 54-yard touchdown. In the fourth quarter, the Redskins were trailing by just a touchdown.
He threw two touchdowns to Brown and another to Rogers.
“The ball was on the ground and Pounce was kind of laying on it and I was trying to tell Pouncey it was right under his leg”, Roethlisberger said.
They fell behind early in the first quarter.
On second-and-10, Roethlisberger fumbled the snap, picked the ball up and heaved it down the left sideline where Sammie Coates hauled it in for a 42-yard gain. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, created (and took advantage of) its own opportunities en route to a 14-6 halftime advantage.
With all due respect to Cousins, failure to establish the running game is a big reason the Redskins ended up chasing the Steelers.
“But I think we have to balance that with being smart and that’s what we were trying to do”. Kerrigan tried to pick it up, lost it and the Steelers retained possession on their 13 and drove down for their first score.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger carved up the Redskins’ defense easily Monday – he does that to a lot of teams, to be fair – but it was telling that Washington could only muster one counterpunch. Defensive players have to find a way to stop opposing runners from earning rushing yards each play. Included was a 19-yard completion to Eli Rogers on fourth-and-1 from the Washington 34.
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Mike Tomlin refuses to live in his fears.
