Whoa. That game was so close to perfection. Perfection. One of those games where I wish I could watch it all over again so that I can take it in and enjoy the pure bliss of it with no anxiety. Just enjoyment of a game well played with a big W at the end.
Oh, but I can. Because after that first touchdown by the Steelers, I thought to hit the record button!
- We always play well at night games. In our color "Dark Knight" uniforms, we were AWESOME.
- Big Ben with the perfect QB rating; 158.3. 22 of 25, 328 yards, five touchdowns. Kudos to the O-line for the unbelievable protection of their boy. Including David DeCastro rushing in late in the third quarter after Ben ran, slid, and got hit in the head by Panthers' Eric Reid (who was ejected from the game for that hit). DeCastro got to Reid first and let him know that was not happening. Not to Big Ben. Not in Heinz Field. Not in Pittsburgh. Not with this O-line. Big Ben always takes care of his guys in return with accolades to the media and with nice Christmas gifts. Good camaraderie.
- Ben ran twice, but his last run was incredible--like a real runner. I think he wanted to run into the end zone but saw five Panthers coming for him. Reid should've pulled up. It was a stupid move. In any other year, it would've been flagged, and the play would've continued. But this is the year of the quarterback protection, and thus the refs ejected Reid. He had already apologized to Ben, but the refs didn't care. Gone. Oh, my.
- Seven different Steelers scored touchdowns; JuJu Smith-Schuster, Vince Willimas, James Conner, Antonio Brown, Vance McDonald, Jessie James, Jaylen Samuels. Way to share the wealth.
- The offense scored 7 out of 9 drives in the first three quarters. Scored on one play in the opening drive. The defense scored. Combined, they scored two touchdowns in 13 seconds.
- Great faith in letting Chris Boswell kick a 50 yard FG. He had to feel great at nailing it. I liked that Tomlin gave him that opportunity.
- The defense let the Panthers score in their first drive, and fans sighed, "Uh oh." We should've had faith because after giving two touchdowns, the defense got their shit together and KICKED ASS.
- Panthers Donte Jackson threw a fit on the sidelines after getting beat by Antonio Brown, who then scored. Jackson screamed and beat on the team's benches. He wanted a flag on Brown for pushing off, and while Brown does like to do that, the refs did an excellent job in not calling it here as Jackson's arm was all over Brown.
- James Connor got hit helmet to helmet by Panthers Thomas Davis. I heard it and saw it and wondered why no one else mentioned it on Fox or online. Well, until Conner went into the concussion protocol. I saw the man wincing on the sidelines and knew it wasn't good.
- We didn't get our first penalty until the fourth quarter. What? How huge was that? Of course, the damn penalty was huge and resulted in a Carolina touchdown and an Artie Burns scolding, but NO PENALTY UNTIL THE FOURTH QUARTER?
- Why were Troy Aikman's eyes so red at the end of the game? It's starting to creep me out.
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