Hey, bridge-jumpers. You done panicking yet? Yeah, a bad game against a division rival sucks. That’s over. The Steelers righted the ship and did their business against an overmatched team. Was it perfect? No, but it was close. To anyone who hopped off the bandwagon, why are you even reading this blog? Everyone else, hit the recap.
Jump.
FIRST QUARTER
The opening drive is pretty regular until Emmanuel Sanders jukes out three guys on a big play. Some Seahawk commits one of the top 10 most obvious pass interferences of all time. Mendenhall plunges for the goal line on 4th & 1 but he runs into a spring-loaded Earl Thomas and the Seahawks take over on downs. They all celebrate like they won a Superbowl.
The Seahawks promptly get two yards and punt.
Mendenhall is pissed. He starts churning out big yards on the ground. Just when the Hawks are settled in to defending the run, the Steelers run the Superbowl play. Reverse to Sanders, who throws it downfield to Hines Ward. Mendenhall finishes the drive. 7-0.
Seattle triples their entire yardage on the day with a 4 yard out route. Then they punt. Downtown Antonio Brown catches it, sits back and waits for a block, and Mysterious Stranger Isaac Redman appears from nowhere and opens up a lane. Unbelievable return. Suddenly you forgive AB for all the times he’s gone backwards on returns.
SECOND QUARTER
Ben hits Aaron Curry in his hands but he goes all Ike Taylor on it and the Steelers go about their business. Mike Wallace shakes and bakes for some nice yardage. Just as Tony Siragusa serenades the Seattle defensive line for apparently being really good, Isaac Redman appears out of nowhere to cruise into the end zone from the 20. What were you saying, Tony?
Somehow that was Redman’s first career rushing touchdown. Doesn’t it feel like he’s scored ten for us in the last few years?
The Seahawks finally wake up and start moving the ball. Brett Keisel gets his arms around T-Jack’s waist but he floats a ball to some guy. Last week, that happened to Ben and they just decided it was actually a sack. Where’s our sack, Bill Leavy?
Wallace and Sanders put together a few nice catches. Redman puts in a couple of good runs. The Steelers march down the field with the cruel effenciency of a Russian hit squad. Heath Miller makes a big catch, but Raheem Brock goes all vonOelhoffen on Ben’s knee. He limps off. The play was actually penalized. Ben Roethlisberger Career Roughing Calls: Three.
They don’t do anything. Ben checks back in like nothing even happened. Suisham kicks a field goal. 17-0.
HALFTIME
Remember when Jordan Staal tore a ligament in his foot in the playoffs against Montreal? Came back from a season-ending injury in two games. Pretty sure Ben just did that too.
THIRD QUARTER
LaMarr Woodley eats someone. Aaron Smith puts a big hit on Justin Forsett. Polamalu gets a sack. Jackson is starting to lose his focus. The defense is wearing him down. Punt. Antonio Brown goes back to losing yards on returns.
Mendenhall is tackled for probably his first loss of the day. He makes up for it on the next play and AB follows up with a catch. The Steelers commit their first penalty of the day.
Hines Ward goes all Cris Carter on some ball on the sideline. Ridiculous catch. Mike Wallace cashes in on a fade route. 24-0.
Troy just about scores on the easiest interception of his career. He can’t hang on to it. Casey Hampton was airborne at some point. Mike Pereira and Tony Siragusa argue about chop blocks for a few minutes.
Two Seahawks go for a pick and slam into each other.
FOURTH QUARTER
All of Ben’s passes have been sailing a little bit high all day. Suisham actually misses a field goal.
James Harrison makes his first appearance of the season. Seattle punts.
The offense is in full grind mode. Larry Foote makes his first play since 2007 with a big sack. Ryan Clark makes a big hit.
With less than 10 minutes left in the game, the Seahawks get across midfield for the first time. Steve McLendon gets a sack.
The Hawks line up to go for it on 4th & 3. The play clock runs out. What a moment to take that penalty. Are they even a real football team anymore?
James Harrison preserves the shutout. The offense doesn’t do much. Sepulveda lands the punt at the inch line but it rolls in for the touchback.
Seattle punts. Surprise.
Ben starts taking knees. Seattle doesn’t even bother with their timeouts.
Game.
- This team actually decided Tarvaris Jackson was a better option than Matt Hasselbeck.
- Beating the snot out of Seattle doesn’t mean that much, but it sure feels nice.
- We hope that by November Isaac Redman is getting like 40% of the carries. The guy can obviously play. Don’t wear out Mendenhall early.
- There are almost no pictures on Chidi Iwuoma on the internet.
- It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch Wallace, Sanders, and Brown grow throughout their careers. All three can be big playmakers.
Sunday night: Steelers vs Colts. Me vs Cris Collinsworth.
