Steelers 26 - Giants 16

JuJu Smith-Schuster hauls in one of

his two TDs against theGiants last night

How can one count the ways that last night's season opening 26-16 win over the Giants was so satisfying?

• After a somewhat rusty start, Ben Roethlisberger showed that he is back and ready to play.  With the team trailing 10-9, the Steelers got the ball with 1:32 to play and proceeded to execute an eight play, 76 yard drive in eighty-five seconds that culminated in a 13 yard TD pass to James Washington for the TD that put the Steelers up 16-10 at the half.  It was vintage Big Ben.
• The amazing effort that Washington put into staying on his feet and driving into the end zone for that score.
• Two TD catches by JuJu Smith-Schuster.
• A defense that smothered Giants' quarterback Daniel Jones, and held Saquan Barkley to only 6 yards on 15 carries.
• An interception at the Steelers goal line in the third quarter after the Giants had marched 87 yards in 19 plays and 8:50 of game time and were getting ready to take a 17-16 lead.  A ferocious pass rush forced Jones to lob up a big balloon that Cam Heyward picked off at the goal line.  If you're the Giants, it was a positively soul-crushing play, and it turned the game around completely in the Steelers favor.
• Ben passed for 229 yards, three TDs, and no interceptions while completing passes to eight different receivers.
• An interception by TJ Watt, picking up right where he left off last season.
• A phenomenal game by OLB Bud Dupree, who may well have been the best player on the field last night.
• 113 yards rushing by Benny Snell Jr.
• A couple of catches by Chase Claypool who in his first game looks to have been a wise draft pick for the Steelers.

On the down side, what appear to be serious injuries struck offensive linemen Stefan Wisniewski and Zach Banner late in the fourth quarter, and James Conner couldn't get out of the first quarter after suffering yet another injury.  For many reasons there is no athlete in Pittsburgh for whom I root more than Conner, but was the performance of Snell last night a "Wally Pipp Moment" for Conner?

All in all, a most satisfactory win for Rooney U. last night to start the 2020 campaign.