Pittsburgh Steelers: Five takeways from Monday's win

By Donny Chedrick 

Photo creds to Las-Vegas review journal

Ahhhh, that’s refreshing. A Steelers win. Sure, they played the Cincinnati Bengals, the weakest team in the AFC North and one of the weaker teams in the entire AFC. Still, credit is due for Mike Tomlin, Randy Ficthner and Keith Butler. A week after being criticized for a losing performance in San Francisco and facing a lot of pressure – they answered. A cautious game plan on offense worked. An aggressive look on defense also worked – very well. The Steelers are 1-3 and have another huge AFC North matchup on the horizon. Before that, here are five key points from last week’s win.  

1.     “Rush the Quarterback”

 

Photo creds to Pack Insider

The Steelers welcomed some of their former legends back to Pittsburgh Monday night. Among them was former head coach Bill Cowher. To a rousing ovation during halftime at Heinz Field, the Cowher mantra was in full force against the Bengals. Cowher used to push his defense to “rush the quarterback” and is an important part of why “Blitzburgh” became a nickname in the 1990’s. 

The current Steelers had Bengals QB Andy Dalton running for his life. Granted, they took advantage of a bad offensive line, but that’s what they are supposed to do. Pittsburgh collected eight sacks. Cam Heyward led the way with 2.5,  TJ Watt had 1.5 with several guys collected one sack apiece, including rookie Devin Bush, who may have had his best game as a Steeler. The guy next to him did alright, too.

2.     Bush & Barron

 

Devin Bush finally showed something Monday. (Photo creds to Oklahoman)

In the first three games of the season, Bush and free agent acquisition, Mark Barron have received a fair amount of criticism. Barron, a former first round-pick out of Alabama garnered some well-deserved flack. Bush still needs some time to develop and fans shouldn’t expect Ryan Shazier-like play instantly. Bush has already played more snaps as a rookie than Shazier did his entire first year.

The 10^th overall pick who the Steelers traded up for had an incredibly solid game Monday night, especially against the run. Bush gathered nine total tackles, seven solo, with one sack and three tackles for loss. Barron also had himself a solid night as well. He still got beat in the pass game a few times but snagged an interception in the second half. Barron led the team in total tackles with 11 (eight solo) with one tackle-for-loss and the INT.

3.     Conservative, but effective

 

Photo creds to Forbes

Monday was a must-win for the Steelers. An 0-4 start would have spelled doom on the season. They needed a game plan to win, and they got it on both sides of the ball. It can continue to develop as the season goes on and as Rudolph gets more comfortable, but for Monday, it was the right plan. Rudolph didn’t have to do too much. In his second start, he didn’t throw it much down the field, with his long being a 43-yard touchdown to rookie Diontae Johnson. The second-year man out of Oklahoma State ended up with a conservative, yet efficient night. 24-28 passing, 229 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was a clean game and it was exactly what the Steelers needed.

4.     25/25/25, 3/3/3 Club

Jaylen Samuels did something special against Cincy. He became just the fourth player in the last decade to have 25+ rushing yards, 25+ receiving yards and 25+ passing yards in a game – joining Cam Newton, who did it in 2011, along with Christian McCaffrey and Julian Edelman, who both accomplished the feat in 2018. Samuels also became the first player since Terrelle Pryor in 2016 to have at least three rushing attempts, three receptions and three passing attempts,  running ten times for 26 yards, catching eight passes for 57 yards and going 3-3 through the air for 31 yards. A week after not getting a single touch offense, Samuels was the most versatile player on the field.

5.     Hope

At 1-3 the Steelers still aren’t favorites to win the AFC North or even make the playoffs, for that matter. Ben Roethlisberger is out for the season and the north is competitive. The Browns (2-2) and Ravens (2-2) haven’t lit the world on fire, and that leaves a gleam of hope for the Steelers. Rudolph will make his third career start Sunday afternoon against the Ravens. A win builds on that hope, but there would have been no hope at all if the Monday’s game went the other way.