The Steelers won the coin toss and against conventional wisdom took the opening kickoff. The odd choice paid off as the offense looked functional in the first quarter for the first time since they excited all of us during preseason. Facing a third down at the onset of the drive had us all fearing the worst. But a converse and not facing another third down till the Titans 29 had all the hopeful in attendance waving their towels as hard as they could. A 19-yard completion on that 3rd & 2 had the Steelers 1st & goal from the ten. They’d need only play as Najee Harris steamrolled into the end zone. 7-0 first drive.
The defense came out and kept bailing the Titans out with four automatic first-down penalties (including two personal fouls). The defense got out of their own way a stopped the Titans at the 20. Nick Folk put a 36-yarder through the upright to make the score 7-3.
The offense then got back to normal with consecutive three-and-outs. The Titans then rode Derrick Henry for most of their third drive and he capped it off with a two-yard score. 10-7.
The Steelers got the ball back and had a good drive. A good mix of Jaylen Warren and Diontae Johnson got them in a goal-to-go situation. The offense stalled out and Boz came out and knocked a 29-yarder through the goal line posts. 10-10
The Titans got the ball with a shade over two minutes left in the half and looked to stack a score with their second-half kickoff. Will Levis complete four straight passes to get the Titans to the 19. Two incomplete passes and a one-yard run later the Titans opt for a field goal to go into the half up 13-10.
The Titans got the kickoff and the defense stopped them on three plays. The Steelers then started the second half much the same way they started the game. They ran the ball effectively and Kenny hit some key passes to get us into the red zone. Facing a third and three from the 12 Kenny hit George Pickens headed to the sideline with a beautiful ball but Pickens couldn’t get his feet down in bounds even with 10 feet of room. Chris Boswell came in to hit a 30-yard field goal. 13-13
Monkey see monkey do. Tennessee marched down the field but didn’t get quite as deep as their next drive ended in a 48-yard field goal. 16-14
The Steelers’ next drive set up fourth-quarter KP8’s appearance as they ran one play in the third quarter before the clock ran down to 0:00. 4QKP8 however had to wait to appear as the first drive fizzled out just before midfield and Pressley Harvin was on for his third punt of the night and pinned the Titans at the eight.
They managed just one first down and it was time for 4QKP8 to don his cape. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren put together some impressive runs on the drive and Kenny hit some key passes including 32 yarder on 3rd and 6 to get Pittsburgh on the red zone’s doorstep at the 23-yard line. Jaylen then broke off a 22-yard run to get the Steelers in a goal-to-go situation. The teams exchanged penalties before Q4KP8 found DJ for a 3-yard touchdown pass. 20-16.
A good return for the Titans had them set near midfield needing a touchdown to take the lead back late in the fourth quarter, yet four plays later they were not able to get a first down and turned the ball over on downs.
The Steelers needed one first down to end the game. In true Steelers fashion, they run the ball three times for a total of two yards. They did however force the Titans to burn two timeouts. The Titans and the Steelers defense did not let the faithful in Acrisure stadium go home early happy as they put together an 11-play drive converting once on a fourth down before Will Levis found Kwon Alexander on the goal line for a game-sealing interception.
This game as usual was heart attack fuel from the opening kick till the final pick. Mike “Teflon” Tomlin finds a way to avoid criticism with another unbelievable win. Kenny Pickett continues to develop into a ruthless end-of-game winner. He needs to get better in quarters 1-3 otherwise it might be time to look elsewhere. Matt Canada moving to the sideline might be the answer.
James