Steelers lose for 1st time this season
Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:
The Steelers spent three months flirting with perfection, insisting all the time they were far from flawless.
They weren’t wrong. The Steelers’ bid for an unbeaten season is over. Washington’s bid for an unlikely division title may just be beginning.
Alex Smith threw for 296 yards and a touchdown, Dustin Hopkins kicked a tiebreaking 45-yard field goal with 2:04 remaining, and Washington beat the Steelers 23-17 on Monday night.
The Steelers (11-1) missed a chance to clinch a playoff berth and dropped into a tie with the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs for the top spot in the AFC with four games remaining. A day after the Giants pulled an upset over the Seahawks in Seattle, Washington (5-7) kept pace by rallying from 14 points down to win in Pittsburgh for the first time since 1991.
Washington won the Super Bowl that season. The club’s expectations this year are far more modest in Ron Rivera’s first season as coach.
Not so with the Steelers, who got off to the best start in the franchise’s 87-year history even as the offense occasionally worked in fits and spurts. In a game pushed back a day due to a COVID-19 outbreak that forced the NFL to reschedule the Ravens’ annual visit to Heinz Field three times, the little mistakes the Steelers managed to get away with for 11 games became too much to overcome.
Ben Roethlisberger passed for 305 yards and two touchdowns, but was picked off by Jon Bostic — a former Steeler — with 1:59 remaining. Hopkins added another 45-yard field goal to help close it out.
The Steelers appeared to be in firm control after Roethlisberger found James Washington for a 50-yard touchdown in the second quarter that put them up 14-0.