The Pittsburgh Steelers thrived in the sloppy weather and again appeared to take a step closer to some consistency in 2012 by continuing their winning ways by defeating the Washington Redskins 27-12 on Sunday afternoon. While this was not a perfect game by any means, the Steelers again look like the Steelers and set the tone early.This was evident when took the ball on their opening drive and moved quickly down the field. Behind a solid mix of run and pass, the drive almost bogged down at the six-inch line. On fourth-and-goal, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit tight end Leonard Pope for a one-yard touchdown pass to make the score 7-0.
After a quick three-and-out by the Redskins on their opening drive, the Steelers quickly moved into scoring range. This five-play 42-yard drive was capped off by a Shaun Suisham 48-yard field goal extending the score to 10-0 midways through the first quarter.
The Redskins bounced back from their first drive and came through with a solid drive of their own. Led by quarterback Robert Griffin III, the team manufactured a 13-play 80-yard drive taking over six minutes off the clock. Like the Steelers, the score took until fourth-and-goal, where Griffin connected with Santana Moss for a two-yard score (extra point blocked) making the score 10-6.
The Steelers offense got the ball back and again drove the field against the Redskins. This time it was a 10-play, 74-yard drive that was finished off by a Roethlisberger to tight end Heath Miller touchdown pass to take the score to 17-6 in the second quarter. The score was Millers’ sixth receiving touchdown of the season. With the team out in front, the defense again stepped up and stopped the Redskins offense. After a horrid 12-yard punt, the Steelers took advantage of the good field position and extended the score to 20-6 with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. The score came on Suishams’ second field goal, this one a 27-yarder as the drive stalled in the Red Zone.
The Redskins took the opening kickoff of the second half and got their offense in gear moving the ball 49-yards to set up their next score. The seven-play drive set up a 48-yard field goal from Kai Forbath to cut the score to 20-9.
The Steelers answered the Redskins field goal by driving the field 80-yards for a touchdown. This 11-play drive was capped by a one-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to fullback Will Johnson to extend the Steelers lead to 27-9 over half way through the third quarter.
Desperate for a score the Redskins finally mounted a drive. Unfortunately, they could not push the ball into the End Zone, and had to settle for a 45-yard Forbath field goal to cap the nine-play 15-yard drive, making the score 27-12 mid way through the fourth quarter.
Defensively, the team got solid play from their front seven, who did a solid job of containing RG III and the Redskins running game. The Steelers were help by an inept receiving corps, which dropped 11 balls on the afternoon. Unfortunately, this performance did not come without a cost, as the Steelers lost safety Ryan Clark in the second half with a concussion.
Offensively, this was one of the best performances the Steelers have put forth in a half in 2012. To accomplish this, the Steelers again got a strong performance from their running game, with Jonathan Dwyer leading the way with 107-yards on 17 carries and Chris Rainey adding 4 carries for 26 yards. This running game set up play action, and Roethlisberger took advantage completing 24-of-33 passes for 222-yards and three touchdowns. Mike Wallace led the way for the receiving corps with seven receptions for 62-yards. Heath Miller (4-46-1), Antonio Brown (4-38) and Emmanuel Sanders (3-56) backed him up.
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Dan Benton
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