The Pittsburgh Steelers used a 17-point fourth quarter to get the upset road win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. This was a statement win for Pittsburgh to start off a season where most pundits didn’t give them a chance. Here’s what went right and what went wrong.
3-man edge rusher rotation went right
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
The Steelers utilized a true three-man rotation of pass rushers on Sunday and it really worked well. This might be as good a group of three Pittsburgh has had in a long time and the coaches know getting T.J. Watt, Melvin Ingram and Alex Highsmith on the field makes life hard on offensive lines and keeps these guys fresh.
Play-action passing went wrong
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Unfortunately, one part of offensive coordinator Matt Canda’s scheme that didn’t work on Sunday was the play action. It was odd seeing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger under center and when the run game struggled it made throwing off play action even less effective.
Tre Norwood in the starting lineup went right
Jamie Germano
The Steelers made the surprising move of starting rookie defensive back Tre Norwood and it really paid off. Norwood was always a playmaker at the University of Oklahoma and he looks to continue the tradition with the Steelers. Norwood finished with five tackles and found himself around the football even more.
Running the football went wrong
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
The NFL debut of running back Najee Harris didn’t go quite as planned. Harris discovered very quickly the sledding gets tough when you don’t have an elite offensive line in front of you and breaking tackles from NFL defenders is much harder than college. Harris finished with only 45 yards on 16 carries, with 18 yards coming on a single carry.
Kicking field goals went right
(AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
Once again, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell was the most consistent scoring threat on the team. Boswell hit all three of his field-goal tries and both of his extra-point attempts. It might not seem like much but finishing drives with points is grossly underrated with a defense this good.
Getting separation went wrong
Watching other teams play on Sunday as well as the Steelers, one thing is clear. Pittsburgh rarely gets an easy completion. There’s very little separation by the Steelers pass catchers and every play was heavily defended. Whether this is based on skill or scheme is a different debate but it’s tough to get yards after the catch when your pass catchers are locked up on every play.
Targeting WR Chase Claypool went right
Jamie Germano
There’s no player on the Steelers offense who can create mismatches the way Chase Claypool can. He should be the guy the offense targets the most but it never seems to be that way. On Sunday, Claypool was targeted fives times and he had three receptions for 45 yards and also drew a long pass interference penalty and had 25 rushing yards on an end-around.
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