Monday morning 2020 NFL recap - week 8

Steelers: I knew today would be the tough one for us. I'm not going to lie. I didn't think we'd win. The Ravens are tough, have a young quarterback who can throw and run, and they have a mental toughness and a will to win. That's kudos to their coach, John Harbaugh. He can fire these guys up. We played better than I expected, especially our offense, and our defense stepped up HUGE.

• Great beginning, giving Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson his first pick-six of his NFL career, but the unnecessary roughness call (assigned to the wrong Steelers player) knocking Jackson down out of bounds a few plays later gave the Ravens their first down and an easy score from there. Penalties make me nuts!
• While both teams are a rivalry, it's usually a respectful one with minimal incident, but Heyward pushing their quarterback apparently heated up the Ravens. We had multiple pushing and shoving after that and then a little smacking and kicking near the sidelines, which resulted in the Ravens losing linebacker Matt Judon, who inadvertently hit a referee when trying to escape from a Ravens staff member. It's ridiculous to watch these grown men acting like children. Jeez. I guess I forget that the Ravens coach has his own issues with anger and irritation. If I were part of the Steelers coaching staff, I'd make anger management a requirement--learn how to turn the other cheek when players talk shit at you and remember to keep your hands at your side. That's a win-win every time. 
• Watching Roethlisberger's elbow receiving a massage on the sidelines was rough. While Ben wasn't sharp in the first half, I cannot handle another season without him. Not with Rudolph as our backup. 
• I know I bitch about the announcers every week, but honestly, there is always something to discuss. This week's hilarity came on Pittsburgh's point after TD when the Ravens were flagged for too many men on the field. Tony Romo pointed out the referee was asking Pittsburgh which choice they wanted to make, and then he listed the first of these choices, turning the second over to his partner Jim Nantz, who hadn't a clue. Romo then tried to prompt him. Nantz countered with some nonsense about concentrating on Roethlisberger on the sidelines, so he didn't look like an idiot, and then, when the head referee announced it a dead foul and therefore, the kick wasn't made legally, Nantz gleefully poked Romo on that. Then Romo had to wiggle to keep from looking like an idiot, and all I could think was these two aren't any better than the babies on the field fighting. Muting them is a relief at times.
• What a throw by Ben and a catch by JuJu Smith-Schuster on the play before the Steelers touchdown. Ben threw it perfectly between two defenders, and JuJu curved exactly right to catch it, squirming and falling and rushing to be stopped short of the goal. When I watch Ben do stuff like that, I remind myself that's why we've got to have faith in the old guy.
• I was concerned we weren't going to get a sack on Jackson. The guy is agile and quick, and he can run. I shouldn't have been worried. My boys on defense came through in the third quarter.
• And just when we're on a roll, the Ravens come back to show us they aren't going to lie down and take a defeat. 
• A lot of penalties as the game went into the fourth. It became a physical, tough, and rough match as the two teams fought for control. A grabbing of the face mask resulted in fifteen yards for the Steelers. A pass interference call allowed the Steelers great yardage, and from there, Ben did what he does best and got the ball into his guys' hands and finally into the end zone to take the next lead.
• The defense came in clutch, stopping the Ravens on fourth down to give the Steelers the ball back with less than a minute to play, but the offense couldn't keep the ball in play, and here I just want to shout BENNY SNELL JR! 
• So, it came down to the wire. And my poor heart. I'm not sure how many more games like this I can take.
• I hate we had more injuries in this game, but none more major than Cam Heywood. I thought we'd lost him in the second to last defensive series, but he walked off the field and went back in on the next series--only to suffer another injury. This time he limped off the field, and it doesn't look good for the future. He's the nicest guy ever and one of my favs, and a HUGE component of our defense, and it will be yet another loss for this banged-up defense.
• Robert Spillane, our backup to Devin Bush, played another great game with that first interception and recovery of a fumble. I was set to call him the hero of the game until Isaiah Buggs stopped Lamar Jackson on fourth down and later Minka Fitzpatrick, who batted down the ball in the end zone to end the game. Defense coming up BIG!

Others:

• No Corona rescheduling this week. Woot! Woot!
• Today's NFL drinking game was high winds. The words were mentioned by Scott Hanson of the NFL Redzone Channel four times in his intro, alerting us to five games that could have crazy wind gusts.
• A huge hit on Rams' Jarod Goff by Emmanuel Ogbah on second and goal resulted in a fumble and a touchdown for the Dolphins. I was worried Goff was out, but he walked off the field on his own accord. What a sack!
• Sleet, snow, rain, and wind in the Cleveland game came out of nowhere and made things a bit tricky. 
• I give the announcers of the Chiefs/Jets game points for their excitement in calling the game. Not that the Chiefs weren't making some great plays, but I mean, it's the Jets...
• Appreciate the Bengals taking out the Titans! Too bad New England and Cam Newton couldn't have taken out Buffalo. Cam Newton only needed to get a few yards, and instead, he coughed up the ball and turned it over to give the Bills another win. 
• Will Lutz, the kicker for the New Orleans Saints, broke his streak of twenty-nine straight kicks by hitting the upright for a missed field goal against the Chicago Bears early in the game, but when it came down to winning the game, Lutz was money. 
• Two games came down to the wire in the later games. The Denver Broncos came from behind 20-3 to beat the Chargers 31-30 with no time left on the clock, and the Bears tied the Saints at 23-23 to take their game into overtime. 
• Denver tied the game with a touchdown and needed only the extra point to win, which kicker Brandon McManus gave them, despite a flag on the play that went against the Chargers. A small brawl broke out after the kick, and frankly, had the game not been over, a few Chargers players should've been ejected for their behavior toward Denver's holder Sam Martin, who was taken to the ground (he's already halfway there in his position) with a twisting head slam. 
• The Broncos quarterback Drew Lock can not dance. 
• In overtime, both defenses for the Saints and the Bears were like crazy, out of control insects racing around smacking, tackling, sacking, and trying whatever they could to not let either offense score. It wasn't pretty football, and it was very chaotic like they'd all chewed caffeine tablets before overtime began. 
• I wondered, at this point, would it benefit bringing in the back-up quarterback? You know, like in baseball with pitching? Then again, it didn't work for the Tampa Bay Rays, so maybe I've answered my own question, but I do like me some Mitch Trubisky, and I think he might've put this game away.