I think we can all exhale now. The uncertainty after how we looked week 1, and some of the doubts around the offensive line, our play calling, and our ability to cover on defense have somewhat evened out. Make no mistake, winning on the road, in Pittsburgh, against a team that was embarrassed last week, was HUGE for this team. This is the first time we have gone 2-0 to start a season since 2013, which as I recall was a pretty special year. I'm not saying we are going to the Superbowl, but often it's these few games where you didn't really expect to win that can tilt the home field advantage come playoff time, and that does impact our chances of going deep into the playoffs. We have to make the playoffs first, but getting wins like we did yesterday are the stepping stones we will use to get there. Let's breakdown this great road win.
OFFENSE: The Really Good
Russell Wilson. That's it, that's the post. Kidding, but he was magnificent yet again, and in terms of his decisiveness, accuracy, and poise, he was as good as I had ever seen him. Russell threw for 300 yards, 3TD, and most notably got the ball out of his hand in just 1.88 seconds. The fastest time in the NFL since 2016. Wide receivers, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf flashed as well, with 10 receptions for Tyler and 1st NFL touchdown for Metcalf. Will Dissley had himself a game, and outside of Russell was perhaps the most important offensive player on the field yesterday. 5 catches for 50 yards, 2 touchdowns, and the 3 other catches went for 1st down conversions. He came up big, and being just 9 months removed from patellar tendon surgery, he looks steady, strong, and like a veteran out there, even with missing most of his rookie season last year.
OFFENSE:The Bad, and Better
The offensive line started off looking like they picked up right where they left off last week. Horrible pass protection, not picking up blitzes, and Russell Wilson sacks, hurries, and hits. Credit OC Brian Schottenheimer for making great in-game adjustments this week. When he recognized that the O-line was struggling, yet again, he adjusted the game plan and started calling quick passes, getting the ball out of Russ's hands, taking advantage of the aggressive defense the Steelers like to play and moving the ball in the second half. Germain Ifedi and DJ Fluker had awful games. Fluker is a great run blocker, but pass blocking isn't his strong suit. Ifedi continues to get costly penalties, false starts and holds that luckily we were able to overcome , for the most part, yesterday. Chris Carson has now fumbled 3 times in 2 games, compared to only 4 lost fumbles all of last season. The Steelers were able to get 14 point off of those 2 fumbles, and without them this game would have been a blow out. It felt like the Seahawks were in control most of the game, and even the sacks and turnovers didn't take away that feeling that once we stopped shooting ourselves in the foot we were going to win this game.
DEFENSE: The Good
Tedric Thompson was out of yesterday's game with a hamstring injury, and Lano Hill performed well in his place. Hill was scored as the 2nd best defensive player for the Seahawks by Pro Football Focus. We didn't give up a catch to a wide receiver for a long stretch of time to start the game, and that was when Ben Roethlisberger was still in the game. Our defense was on it yesterday, if it wasn't for the short fields caused by turnovers on offense, I'm not sure we would have given up a touchdown yesterday. Mychal Kendricks was flying around the field, laying dudes out. Nothing gets past Bobby Wagner, as usual. A number of key players for the Steelers left the game with injury, including Big Ben and James Conner. I don't use that as an excuse as to why the defense was successful. They created that environment by flying around, hitting hard, and being in position to make sound tackles. The defensive line had more passes deflected in this game, and that is not something we saw a lot of in previous seasons. I credit the coaching for making that a part of our arsenal on defense and the big guys at the line for being able to create pressure to force the throws while still being aware and able enough to disengage off the block and get their hands up in time to deflect those passes.
DEFENSE: The Not So Good
I started off praising the play of Lano Hill, but he got caught out of position in a very familiar way on Sunday. He was a victim of another flea FUCKING flicker from Mason Rudolph of all people yesterday. I feel like I spoke Rudolph into existence by making him my " Fine Across Enemy Lines" player for last week, and saying he won't see the field. Still I can't hate on Thompson as much as I did without also pointing out Hill got got on that one too. Still, when opposing teams are going to flea flickers to score points it is a good sign that our defense is stifling their play calling. I would like to see more pressure on the quarterback, of course Ansah and Collier, who had 16 snaps Sunday, will eventually get into the mix, and Jarran Reed returns week 6, so I fully expect our pass rush to improve as guys start coming back. Overall, I don't have much to complain about when it comes to the Seahawks defense against the Steelers yesterday.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Pete Carroll made some great calls yesterday, in game changing moments. Challenging the no-call for PI against Tyler Locket which was actually over-turned and called pass interference was HUGE. I had yet to see one of those challenges work in a game I was watching, and with the little contact that occurred I though for certain we weren't going to win that one. Then deciding to go for it on 4th and 1, with the option to go for a field goal to go up 5 and require the Steelers to go the entire field and score a TD to win. I though Pete made a gutsy call, but the right call. I also love that to get that 1 yard we were able to go back to Carson, run POWER behind Mike Iupati ( who is still working his way back from injury) and seal the win in that way. Malik Turner stood out with 3 catches for 54 yards and a long of 30 yards. Russelll was getting the ball to every offensive weapon he had, and he even used his legs a bit on that final drive. Whenever Russ runs it's like Christmas morning for me. The shitty grass at Hines Field almost took him out on a slide, but it's like every door is flung wide open when Russell runs. I feel like our offense is unstoppable and that we are going to win no matter what. Jadevaon Clowney was asked about Russell after the game and said that he was 50% of the reason he wanted to come here. That Russell never gives up, even down 100-0, and that is the kind of guy he will ride for. That's just refreshing to hear from a defensive players, where in years past there was rumors of jealousy and hate being thrown at QB1 from guys on defense. Russell got his 200th passing touchdown in just 114 games, that is 5th all time fastest behind guys like Merino, Manning, Rogers, and Farve. It's about time the man gets the credit he is due. We have an infatuation with what guys like Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are doing the last couple years, but Russell has performed at the highest level for EIGHT years now, and deserves to be in the discussion for best QB in the league. Last, but certainly not least, it was Pete Carroll's 68th birthday yesterday, and the team went nuts in the locker room, dumping water bottles on him, and giving him the game ball. Happy Birthday Coach.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Russell Wilson, 29-35, 300 yards, 3TDs, 0 INTs, completion percentage of 83%. One hell of a pregame huddle speech and post game locker room speech was on point too.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Chris Carson converting on 4th & 1 on a power run to seal the game.
WORST PLAY OF THE GAME: Also goes to Carson on his 1st fumble of the game, which game the Steelers their first touch down.
WEIRD PLAY I STRANGELY LOVED: KJ Wright tackling Ju Ju Smith-Schuster by holding onto his hand for dear life. (If my man don't hold my hand like that then I don't want him LOL)
