Me, after watching almost any Steelers’ game in the past half-decade

As you probably gleaned from last week’s entry, I had very low expectations heading into the Steelers’ week four contest against the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland. In fact, I had mentally prepared myself for a 2-2 start heading into the week 5 bye, as I expected our offense to sputter against Brian Flores’s defense, and our defense to get shredded by the likes of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. 

Aaron Rodgers being sacked for a loss of eight yards on the first play from scrimmage did very little to assuage my concerns, especially considering he did not even have time to survey the field before Jalen Redmond was in his face. The Steelers would go three-and-out, and then allow an opening-drive 41-yard field goal to Minnesota. Not the most ideal start. 

The offense did get into a rhythm, though, scoring touchdowns on back-to-back possessions. Kenneth Gainwell’s one-yard run put the Steelers up 7-3 and, after forcing a punt, Rodgers would hit DK Metcalf on a crossing route for an 80-yard touchdown to make it 14-3. At halftime, Pittsburgh held a 14-6 lead over Minnesota, despite Chris Boswell having a field goal blocked. 

To start the second half, both offenses went three-and-out. On the Vikings’ second possession, the moved the ball to midfield before TJ Watt intercepted Carson Wentz. Five plays later, Kenneth Gainwell had his second score of the day, punching it in from four yards out and extending the Steelers’ lead to 21-6 with just over 17 minutes left in the game. The Vikings would follow that with a three-and-out, and Boswell would kick a 33-yard field goal to make it 24-6 with 11:21 left in the game. Surely, there was no chance for Minnesota to make a comeback…right?

The Vikings got a touchdown and two-point conversion on their ensuing drive, cutting the deficit to 10 points, while only bleeding about 3.5 minutes off the clock. The Steelers took the next possession to the Minnesota goal-line, where they would fail to convert on fourth-and-goal. With 3:25 left in the game, Carson Wentz launched a bomb to a wide open Jordan Addison, who had nothing but green grass in front of him. Somehow, linebacker Payton Wilson was able to catch up to him and stop him at the one yard-line. While the Vikings would eventually score, this effort by Wilson drained an extra minute off the clock, time that Minnesota could have benefitted from later. 

Roman Wilson recovered the Vikings’ onside kick attempt. The Steelers ran it three times and got to fourth-and-inches from the Minnesota 40. A first down would seal the game. Instead of going for it, Tomlin elected to punt, and Corliss Waitman booted it out of the end zone for a touchback. I was livid. In what universe do you not trust your offense to gain ONE FOOT? This is the same coach who repeatedly spews the line, “we cannot live in our fears”. Punting in that situation is the epitome of one living in their fears. 

Nevertheless, the Vikings had a chance to tie the game up at 24 with a field goal if they could gain about 35 yards in a minute. After ten free yards from defensive penalties, Nick Herbig forced Carson Wentz to commit an intentional grounding penalty, and the Vikings were incapable of overcoming the 2nd-and-26 that resulted from that infraction. The Steelers escaped Dublin with a narrow victory. 

The game should have never been that close. One would expect an eighteen-point lead with just over eleven minutes left to be all but insurmountable. And, yet, the Steelers find a way to keep things…interesting. Jalen Ramsey and Calvin Austin both sustained significant injuries during the contest, too, which will make the games after the upcoming bye increasingly difficult. 

A win is a win, though. The Steelers are 3-1 and will have a week off. In all likelihood, so will I, unless something drastic changes in the sports landscape. 

Until then, fuck Bob Nutting, fuck Ben Cherington, and fuck the Pirates.