Roethlisberger is averaging 315 yards per game, including one game he did not finish because of an injury and another that he did not start due to an injury.
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The Seahawks lost Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham for the season, as he suffered a torn patellar tendon in his right knee and will require surgery, coach Pete Carroll said after the game. His 145 yards were his most in any game during his five seasons, and he became the first Seahawk since Joey Galloway in 1997 with three touchdown receptions in one game. Seahawks QB Russell Wilson threw his way, but the ball was underthrown, and Graham went down awkwardly on the incompletion.
Quarterback Russell Wilson overcame illness to throw five touchdown passes – three to Doug Baldwin, two to Jermaine Kearse – and Seattle was able to withstand the loss of tight end Jimmy Graham to a season-ending knee injury, though he’ll be missed the remainder of the season.Defense C What a unusual day for Seattle’s pass defense.
But for Pittsburgh’s final drive, after Baldwin’s clinching TD, Landry Jones was the Steelers’ quarterback.
But Williams has had issues all season, first with Seattle’s unique “step-and-kick” technique of jamming receivers and then turning to run with them at the line and then with zone coverage on deep passes.
Seattle finished with exactly 100 yards rushing, led by Thomas Rawls’ 81 yards on 21 carries with one touchdown. Seattle has struggled all season with losing games despite winning the turnover battle. But Baldwin thinks the difference between Sunday – and the Seahawks being squarely in the NFC playoff picture – and three games ago, when they were 4-5 and thumped by Arizona, is on third down. Tennessee had taken a 21-17 lead and thought they had a game-saving play when safety Michael Griffin broke up a pass in the end zone on fourth down. I’m not sold on replacing Ross Cockrell after the many plays he’s made. So many challenges back and forth for both teams. “The chemistry was just there today between me and Ben”. Ben was fantastic, and the receivers were great.
Pittsburgh got the ball first and went 3-and-out.
Next: The Seahawks (6-5) travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings (8-3) at 10AM Pacific Time next Sunday. The lead changed eight times in this topsy-turvy event, and there were stars everywhere, especially on offense, and often the unexpected kind. Wheaton caught caught nine passes for 201 yards, becoming only the second opponent receiver in 40 years to crack the 200-yard mark against the Seahawks. The second was an 80-yard catch and run punctuated by Baldwin breaking two tackles with old-school stiff arms on third-and-10 with 2 minutes, 1 second left when a Steelers stop might have sent the Seahawks back under.500. Bryant caught a pass for 11 yards from the 20 before Ben and Wheaton teamed up for a 69 yard touchdown.
“To get those yards, they had to put it up and take some chances, and our guys came through with big plays”, Carroll said of his team’s four-interception day. That means you weren’t getting any pass rush and we weren’t doing good on the back end. “But you give them credit-that’s a fantastic football team, and great players over there”.
Much of the discussion will revolve around two pivotal decisions by Mike Tomlin that had a significant impact on the outcome.
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It was the second interception thrown by Jones after a fake field goal in the first half went horribly wrong for Pittsburgh as the pass intended for tackle-eligible Alejandro Villanueva was intercepted by Jeremy Lane. The injury occurred with 13 minutes, 36 seconds left in the game. Had the defense been able to get off the field on that third-and-10 play, the Steelers probably would have won with a field goal.
