Monday morning NFL 2020 recap - week 11

Steelers: My buddy, Scott, was in Jacksonville for the game. We had a lot of fun searching for him, Tom more than me because, of course, he found him (insert eye-rolling emoji) even though in that picture he's pointing nowhere near where my friends were sitting.

• Tuesday, Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf announced athletes, including the Steelers, needed to wear masks while competing on the field. A day later, that was snatched back as the reality of wearing a helmet, a mouthguard, AND a mask might just cause some breathing problems. 
• As usual, more Steelers fans in the stands than Jaguars fans.
• Okay, I'm not a fan of all the celebrating after touchdowns, but I did enjoy Chase Claypool's lighting of the football for JuJu Smith Schuster's birthday. Even more, I loved the analysts pointing out how Claypool's celebration wasn't for himself but for JuJu, which then led to a remark about zero egos in the Steelers' locker room. Finally!
• Bennie Snell Jr. punching it in for the touchdown! Then, in the third quarter, punching it for two yards and the first down. I should be a coach (tee hee).
• The defense kept their sack record going with a sack in the third quarter by Stephen Tuitt, and in the fourth quarter, the defense racked up their 20th and 21st takeaway. Another great defensive game by my boys!
• Ben had some nice throws in this game and a lot of great protection. 

Other:

• Apparently, there was some trash talk in the pregame warm-ups when the Tennessee Titans met on the 50-yard line for a team meeting. Suddenly, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was interrupting said meeting, and boy, he was not happy with whatever the Titans had been yelling. Words were exchanged with most of the Titans players laughing at Harbaugh's behavior. Then the Titans coach appeared, and it was all so ridiculous. One thing one can say about the Harbaugh family--they are competitive, and they are certainly hot-headed.
• The day's craziest play came in the Washington/Cincinnati game with twelve minutes left in the first half. The Bengals went for it on fourth down in the red zone. Not able to find a receiver, quarterback Joe Burrows ran and got stuffed at the goal line. Burrows fumbled the ball, and Washington recovered. Or, so we thought. There was a flag on the play, and the ref told us TV watchers, "urhglshgry, rrurkdgnv&, blah, blah, blah." I was saying, "What?" and the analysts were saying, "What?" and Redzone Channel's Scott Hanson was saying, "What?" In the end, it went something like this: Burrows fumbled, Washington recovered the ball in the field of play, then Washington fumbled in the end zone and got tackled, which resulted in a safety for the Bengals. But--the Bengals were called for holding, Washington accepted that penalty, and the safety was removed, and the Bengals got a second chance at fourth down, planning to kick. But, before that could happen, the play was reviewed. After the review? The ruling was a touchback and not a safety, the hold still applied, Washington declined it and got the ball. I mean, my head was spinning!
• After the loss of quarterback Drew Brees for a couple of weeks, the Saints went with the newbie instead of the oldie, playing Taysom Hill over Jameis Winston, figuring there was no time like the present to see if the kid had what it takes to replace the legend.
• The Bengals QB, Joe Burrows, had to be carted off the field after getting hit low on a sack, and we'll have to wait to hear the news on how bad the injury, but Burrows, despite the Bengals record, was making big strides as the number one draft pick his rookie year.
• Yikes! Major misses on the kicking today, including the Steelers Chris Boswell. 
• It rained the entire game in Cleveland, playing against the Eagles. The kind of steady, miserable weather where you just want to be home snuggled under a blanket.