Steelers hope win is a sign of things to come
PITTSBURGH – Vance McDonald insists he wasn’t sending some sort of message when the Pittsburgh Steelers tight end extended his right arm toward Tampa Bay’s Chris Conte and jammed the Buccaneers defensive back into the turf on Monday night.
It was a show of force that sprung McDonald for a 75-yard touchdown reception and seemed to snap the twotime defending AFC North champions out of an early funk that threatened to swallow their season whole.
“Just playing big,” McDonald said after Pittsburgh held on for a 30-27 victory. “It was frustrating. I was (injured) in training camp, so this was kind of just a ‘Welcome Back’ almost.’”
McDonald was talking about himself. He might as well have been talking about the Steelers, too.
While there remains plenty of issues – particularly when it comes to penalties and pass defense – Pittsburgh (1-1-1) played with a sense of urgency it lacked at times during a maddening opening two weeks in which the Steelers frittered away a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in Cleveland before getting overwhelmed by Kansas City.
McDonald’s highly “GIF-able” swat of Conte provided a desperately needed spark. The defense put a sudden if brief halt to Tampa Bay quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s hot streak by forcing a turnover on four consecutive possessions.
Ben Roethlisberger did the rest while throwing for 353 yards and three scores.
“That was a total team win, all the phases, and that’s what Steeler football is about,” Roethlisberger said.
Even if anything close to a “clean” game remains elusive. Pittsburgh was flagged 13 times for 155 yards, the defense gave up 411 yards passing and kicker Chris Boswell missed two more kicks.
Throw in some anxious moments in the fourth quarter after the Buccaneers trimmed a 20-point deficit to three and the Steelers understand they’re far from a finished product heading into a Sunday night visit by Baltimore (2-1).
Pittsburgh’s 37 penalties are easily tops in the NFL, nine more than Buffalo. Though Tomlin attributed some of the mistakes to the emotions of playing a pivotal game so early in the year, he allowed “we’ve got to play cleaner, got to play smarter.”