Smith, Washington defense hand Steelers first defeat
With Alex Smith leading the way in the latest remarkable development of his oh- so- remarkable comeback, maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising that Washington — below .500, representing the lowly NFC East, with little help from two leading playmakers, facing a two- TD hole on the road against unbeaten Pittsburgh — would pull off a victory.
This no- nickname team’s first season under coach Ron Rivera is making the ridiculous seem routine at this point.
Jon Bostic made a sliding interception when Montez Sweat tipped Ben Roethlisberger’s pass at the line of scrimmage with about two minutes left, and Washington’s tremendous defensive performance made its dink- and- dunk output on offense stand up for a 23- 17 win Monday that dropped Pittsburgh’s record to 11- 1.
“We knew it was going to be a little bit ugly,” said Smith, who last month made his first start in two years after needing 17 operations to recover from a broken right leg. “Proud of our team to find a way to win this game like that, especially as young as we are. We showed a lot of maturity.”
Smith downplayed what looked somewhat scary from afar: blood coming through his left uniform pants and sock late in the first half.
“Never,” Smith said, “had one gush like that.” But he said it wasn’t a big deal and didn’t require stitches at halftime.
Washington trailed 14- 0 in the second quarter before a late field goal at the end of the half and a 14- play, 82- yard touchdown drive early in the third period cut that deficit to four points.
Smith ended up 31- for- 46 for 296 yards and a 15- yard TD pass to Logan Thomas that made it 17- all with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Dustin Hopkins made a pair of 45- yard field goals down the stretch.
BUFFALO 34, SAN FRANCISCO 24.
GLENDALE, ARIZ. » Josh Allen threw for 375 yards, tied a career high with four touchdown passes and the Bills stayed in sole possession of first place in the AFC East with a win over the 49ers on Monday night.
Buffalo ( 9- 3) moved a step closer to winning its division for the first time since 1995 thanks to a nearly flawless performance from Allen. The 24- year- old quarterback was stellar against the 49ers, completing 32 of 40 passes with no interceptions.
He threw touchdown passes to Cole Beasley, Dawson Knox, Isaiah McKenzie and Gabriel Davis as the Bills built a 17- 7 halftime lead and controlled the majority of the second half.
The Bills are one game ahead of the Miami Dolphins with four games left for both teams.