Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes, including two to star wide receiver Antonio Brown, to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 38-16 win over Washington’s National Football League team on September 12 at FedEx Field near Washington D.C. That’s the price the Redskins paid to bring in Josh Norman for nights like this, against receivers like Antonio Brown. Williams finished with 143 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.
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“We hold ourselves to high expectations”, Roethlisberger said. “We had a designed play”, Roethlisberger said. Learn from it and you get better from it.’ You critique that film like your life depended on it. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey knocked the ball out of Kerrigan’s hands, and Roethlisberger dived on it at his 13-yard line.
“That’s kind of been our M.O.”, Tomlin said. “There’s nothing more I can say about that play”.
Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, who threw two interceptions, hadn’t thrown one at FedEx Field since Week 1 of last season.
As for Norman, the Redskins didn’t put him on Brown all the time, preferring to hide their investment at times against someone who didn’t have an easy time with him. One of the three second half deep throws was intercepted by linebacker Ryan Shazier and another resulted in a questionable pass interference call against Steelers cornerback Ross Cockrell with 59-seconds remaining in the game.
Hopping Hopkins: Washington kicker Dustin Hopkins made all three of his field-goal attempts, connecting from 31, 40 and 34 yards. (Still, Thompson did record Washington’s only touchdown of the night.) Grade: B+. He caught one pass for 9 yards, the only time Cousins targeted Doctson.
After being shut out in the first quarter, Brown and Roethlisberger got the offense rolling when, on a fourth-and-1, they connected for a 29-yard touchdown for a lead the Steelers would never relinquish. Williams also silenced age critics by scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Tomlin said that he takes responsibility for the ultimate call to go for it.
Running on empty: Jones was in the starting lineup after separating his left shoulder on August 19, but he lost 4 yards on his first two carries and finished with 24 yards on seven carries. Because of that and as you would expect, he said that needs to improve moving forward and especially on pass plays that don’t include his defense blitzing. Wide receiver Markus Wheaton suffered a shoulder injury before the game and running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Martavis Bryant are now serving a suspension.
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. Both teams reached last season’s playoffs, but it was Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown who starred for the Steelers.
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Pittsburgh is 3-1-1 against the spread against the AFC North, 3-1-1 against the spread following a win by 14 or more points, 1-3-1 against the spread following a game that they covered the point spread, and 0-2-2 against the spread following a win.
