The Steelers defeated the Tennessee Titans last night 20-16 and bumped their record to 5-3, good for second place in the AFC North pending the games to be played this weekend. The victory followed the team's tried and true 2023 formula: a tenacious defense led by outside linebackers TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith, a key turnover at the end the game that sealed the deal, and yet another fourth quarter comeback led by QB Kenny Pickett. This one was a 92 yard drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to Dionte Johnson. It was Johnson's first touchdown since week 17 of the 2021 season.
The Steelers also did something a little different in this game from what we have become accustomed to - they scored a TD in the first quarter. This was a ten yard run by Najee Harris at the end of a length of the field drive to open the game. Harris and Jaylen Warren also combined for 166 rushing yards, easily the best Steelers rushing performance of the season. Both of them outgained Derrick Henry, as a matter of fact.
Despite all of that, the Steelers offense still leaves much to be desired. Fourth quarter comebacks are fun and exciting, but how sustainable a formula is that? Would it be too much to ask for something like a 38-14 win at some point?
A small bone to pick with the Amazon Prime telecast last night. It became apparent from the pregame chatter with the Amazon Talking Heads and with the Al Michaels/Kirk Herbstreit announcing duo, that the main storyline of the game would be Titans rookie QB Will Levis, who had made his debut the week before and threw four TD passes. Perhaps it's just Steelers Fan paranoia in me, but everything was framed around what Levis did. Even when getting sacked by Watt or Highsmith, it was, "let's see how Levis can come back from this" kind of stuff. Oh, well, that's showbiz, I suppose.
As for Levis, he appears to be pretty good. He certainly outplayed Pickett for most of the game. Until the fourth quarter that is, but had Kwon Alexander not intercepted that last pass, the ball appeared to be headed right into the hands of a Titans receiver for what would have been the game winning touchdown for Tennessee. As I say, he appears to be pretty good, but he's played two games so far, so slow down on ordering that Gold jacket for him.
For the "OVER" betters....
The over/under on Steelers wins for the season was set at 8.5. So, at the halfway point of the season, how is it looking for us OVER betters? The Steelers have five wins with nine games remaining. Can they go at least 4-5 to enable us to cash our tickets?
The five out of division games are home games with the Packers, Cardinals, and Patriots, and road games with the Colts and Seahawks. Looking at things on this November 3, the Steelers should be favored or, at the least, short odds underdogs in at least four of those five games.
They have four AFC North games @Browns, @Ravens, and home and away with the Bengals.
They will not win all five out of division games, but I also don't think that they will lose all four AFCN games, as many predict. I think that they could split the North games, and win three of the five other games, so a ten win season is not out of the question. However, we have watched this team all season, so don't bet the house on any of these predicted scenarios, but I am liking my OVER 8.5 wager at this point.
My wager on Kenny Pickett to throw OVER 17.5 TD passes? That appears to be money down the drain at this point.
For the weekend....
There are three really attractive match-ups for this coming Sunday in the NFL.
- Chiefs -1.5 over Dolphins in Germany
- Eagles -3 over Cowboys in Philly
- Bengals -1.5 over Bills in Cincy on Sunday night
Myself, I think that I would go with the favorite in each of those games.
Enjoyed this write-up, Bob. I have to agree with you on the Levis narrative driving the broadcast. But as you say, that’s show biz. He is a good qb with a strong arm. I’m still a Kenny believer, but he had me tossing couch pillows with those balls that sailed over receivers’ heads.
ReplyDeleteThat was Dave Tarrant ^^^
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