What a sorry excuse for a football game. The Steelers were beaten soundly by a team they had no business losing to at home. The offensive line was horrible, and in turn, nothing happened on offense. Besides a late TD in panic-time, the offense was completely inept all afternoon. The defense only gave up 16 points, which should be enough to win a game. It should be, but with an offensive effort that bad, you're going to need your defense to pitch a shutout every game if you want to have a chance.
FIRST QUARTER
The Titans' kick returner steps out of the end zone to field the kickoff, then retreats and takes a knee.
This 2-0 lead had to technically set the record for fatest scoring play in NFL history at 14:59 of the 1st. This would be the high point for the Steelers.
Antonio Brown fields the free kick by not retreating into his end zone and kneeling. Ben airs it out early and spreads the ball around. Brown makes some big plays while the running game gets shut down on the opening drive. David DeCastro goes for a cut block and throws himself into the side of Maurkice Pouncey's knee.
Torn ACL and MCL. See you next year.
Beachum replaces Pouncey and Jerricho Cotchery stretches out for a first down. Isaac Redman gets stonewalled on a spin move again. Redman fumbles into the end zone and the Titans recover for a touchback.
Wonder what Jonathan Dwyer's up to?
Jake Locker hits a few receivers with quick throws and picks up a first down on his own with a slide. Some TE gets flagged for offensive pass interference and the Titans end up punting.
Ben gets taken down twice on the next drive and Zoltan Mesko makes his first appearance. Reynaud gets hunted down in the open field by Shamarko Thomas. That will need to be a staple over the course of the season for the Shamarknado.
LaMarr Woodley gets all kinds of held and sacks Jake Locker anyway.
SECOND QUARTER
The Titans land a punt masterfully at the 4. Ben keeps hitting Antonio Brown on quick slants, then he adjusts to an oncoming blitzer to find David Johnson coming across for a first down.
Isaac Redman fumbles again. He recovers it, but come on, this used to get you benched.
Wouldn't this have been nice?
LaRod Stephens-Howling picks up four yards without fumbling. Emmanuel Sanders gets blown up on a screen pass and Zoltan Mesko punts again. Jarvis Jones teleports into the backfield and plants Chris Johnson for a loss.
This dude is a playmaker.
Troy Polamalu takes an awkward angle at a batted ball and can't get his first interception of the season. The Titans punt it away.
Felix Jones mercifully replaces Isaac Redman as the tailback. Ben celebrates by throwing an interception to Conrad Verner.
I still don't actually know who any of these players are.
Larry Foote misses a tackle in the backfield, which lets the Titans convert a 4th & 1. The Tennessee offense methodically converts first downs as the clock approaches the two-minute warning. Jackie Battle plunges through a pile at the goal line to put the Titans on top, 7-2.
That's a weird place to line up Jarvis Jones for this series. Photo by Dejan Kovacevic.
Mike Adams gets smoked again and Ben goes down again. Inital call says he got the ball to Stephens-Howling, but Tennessee challenges. Not sure why you'd spend a challenge in that situation, with the Steelers hemmed in their own zone and with a whole 5-6 yards at stake, but hey, they end up getting the right call out of it.
HALFTIME
This game is terrible. Have some cuddling baby bunnies:
THIRD QUARTER
The Steelers punt almost immediately as the offensive line still can't get it together. The Steelers' front seven has more trouble stopping the run, but a rare pass attempt for Jake Locker gets batted away and the Titans punt again.
Pinned at their own 8 after a penalty, LaRod Stephens-Howling manages to make a couple of plays in the run game, but the pocket then collapses around Ben Roethlisberger again and the Steelers give the ball back.
Troy Polamalu times the snap count. Sprinting into the backfield, he almost beats the football to Jake Locker and gets a quick sack. No one knows how he stays onside. Locker cleans up the damage when he hits Nate Washington (remember him?) for a first down. Ryan Clark exits the game when Chris Johnson throws a helmet into his shoulder.
Not that it was dirty or anything, but seriously, how can this guy exist without constantly being punched?
Rob Bironas boots a short field goal through the uprights. 10-2.
LaRod Stephens-Howling suddenly collapses into a sitting position and the trainers come out to check his knee. He ends up walking off and Felix Jones replaces him. Stephens-Howling isn't an every down back and the Steelers pay the price for using him as one.
FOURTH QUARTER
The Titans get the ball back and start moving down the field again. Eventually Jake Locker misses on his throws and the Steelers get the ball. Isaac Redman gets another chance and he takes a draw for a gain of 7 yards. Ben goes no-huddle and hits Sanders for a long gain. Cotchery might get interfered with, no call. Whatever. Ben's game falters at this point. He's throwing on a three-step drop, regardless of whether anyone is open or not, just to avoid getting hit again. That's Todd Haley's influence and it isn't Ben's style, but it's what the Steelers have to do to keep their franchise QB from getting killed. Zoltan punts again.
The Steeler defense comes back out to try and keep it a one-score game. Lawrence Timmons puts a shoulder into Locker's gut as he releases a ball. Nate Washington gets shaken up on the catch. Ryan Clark gets flagged from every direction for pass interference that puts the Titans in field goal range. Some lineman takes a roughing penalty to push the Titans back out. A few short plays give Rob Bironas a chance for a 44-yard insurance field goal.
13-2.
Two scores is just about insurmountable for this offense. Ben gets decked again and airs out a ball to Sanders, who's covered. Then he gets hit before he can even get rid of the ball. Some dude returns Zoltan's next punt to the Pittsburgh 17. Bironas nails it again, 16-2.
Markus Wheaton tries to get something going on the kick return. Ben fires a bullet to Antonio Brown at midfield and the play is aided by a facemasking penalty. Sanders picks up another first down, then Isaac Redman gets under a batted ball in the red zone. The two minute warning arrives and the Steelers line up at the Tennessee 4-yard line.
Ben hits Jerricho Cotchery on 4th & goal for the touchdown. 16-9.
Dude has great hands.
George Wilson recovers the onside kick and kills Jay Gatsby. Markus Wheaton is the only receiver out on the hands team. Baffling. Game over.
-Mike Adams is a problem. Jonathan Dwyer can't fix this offensive line, but at least he can look like he's trying.
-The defense is not really a problem. They need Jarvis Jones to play, though. Worilds brings nothing.
-Why are there backup linebackers out there to recovery the onside kick? Why not Brown, Cotchery, Sanders, Wheaton, Moye, etc.? Guys who can, you know, catch footballs.
For all the gloom and doom, it's only one game. Lots of teams lose their first game of the season (about half the league, in fact) and it doesn't necessarily signal the end of the season already. That said, the Steelers have a lot of things to work on this week. There won't be a lot of leeway in the AFC North this year, but luckily the other three teams lost all their openers as well. It's easy to predict the Steelers' demise after a performance like that, but that's not how football works. A new game lies ahead, and the Steelers will have a chance to right their wrongs Monday night in Cincinnati.
Get your mind right.
