Steelers put on a fitting tribute
“Coming out with the flag, honoring a man that just means so much to everyone, a guy that obviously drafted me, just everything that he’s meant,’’ Roethlisberger said. “Even during the national anthem, knowing that the [Pittsburgh] symphony was out there because that was Mr. Rooney’s thing, I had tears in my eyes. I had to try to snap out of it and get ready to go.”
And then they won a game for him.
Roethlisberger and his offense are still not quite in sync yet; even coach Mike Tomlin admitted as much after the game. For someone who said he no longer wanted to talk about Le’Veon Bell missing all of the preseason — “You can sing that Le’Veon Bell camp song all you want … I’m done with it,’’ Tomlin said Tuesday — the coach did mention that he and Martavis Bryant are going through “a process.”
Bell got much more work than the 13 touches he had in Cleveland a week earlier. He ran 27 times for 87 yards and caught four passes for 4 yards.
“Much like Martavis, he’s going through a process from time missed,’’ Tomlin said Sunday after the game. “Today was a significant step; he was better than a week ago, but again much like Martavis you’re not looking at a finishedproduct.”
Imagine what that product might look like because Bryant had a big game against the Vikings after catching two passes for 14 yards in the opener. He not only caught three passes for 91 yards, one a 27-yard slant for a touchdown that looked oh-so-easy, but he also drew a 49-yard pass interference penalty. He would have caught that, too, if he weren’t tackled from behind. It led to the team’s only other touchdown, a 4-yard shovel pass from Roethlisberger to rookie JuJu SmithSchuster for his first NFL score on his first NFL reception.
“Each game I’m getting better and getting more into it,’’ Bryant said. “I’m going to get better this week.”
The Steelers got lucky when the Vikings determined quarterback Sam Bradford could not play because of soreness in a knee that twice had ACL tears. He was the NFC player of the week after the first game for lighting up the New Orleans Saints defense. Instead, the Steelers defense got backup Case Keenum, who is not working for his third NFL team in his fifth NFL season for nothing.
“It didn’t change our approach at all,” Tomlin said.
Still, a dominating performance is a dominating performance. They sacked Keenum twice, had him running for his life on other occasions and held the Vikings to 237 total yards, the same number the Browns managed a week earlier. Rookie halfback Dalvin Cook, who ran for 127 yards in Minnesota’s first game, had just 64 Sunday.
“It was fun,’’ said rookie defensive end T.J. Watt, who was on his way to another monster performance until what he said was a minor groin injury KO’d him in the second quarter. “I thought we were flying around, playing really good football. And any time you’re really pressuring the quarterback and having rush and coverage, you’re doing well as a defense.” It was Dan Rooney’s kind of victory.