Behind the Steel Curtain
The AFC North is 2-9 over the last three weeks – the Pittsburgh Steelers have those two wins.
The Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 23-9 in what I would say is the most dominant, stress-free win in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era. The result was never in doubt, they were aggressive from the first snap, and they dominated for 60 minutes. Because of that, there will be a ton of winners and next to zero losers this week, which is always nice. Let’s get into it.
Not only is Herbig one of the Steelers’ best players, but he has also legitimately become one of the top edge rushers in the NFL. He added two sacks to his total, giving him 4.5 in four games, and his sack rate is currently higher than T.J. Watt and Trey Hendrickson, per Next Gen Stats – he’s a star.
Patrick Queen is playing at an All-Pro level. He had nine tackles, a beautiful diving pass deflection that prevented a potential touchdown pass from Dillon Gabriel to David Njoku. He also nearly picked off a deflected pass. Wherever the ball was, Queen seemed to be not far behind. This is the player the Steelers were hoping they’d get when they signed him last offseason.
As Ramsey pointed out after the game, he played in the same game as Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt and had more sacks than both of them combined. The star cornerback had two sacks, marking the first time he’s ever done that in a game. A fun nugget here from Daniel Valente points out how great Ramsey and the Steelers stars have been this season. Nine players in the NFL have multiple sacks and at least one interception – the Steelers have three of them: Ramsey, Watt, and Herbig. Many thought that Ramsey’s best days were behind him, but he’s playing at a very high level.
Watt was all over the place. He had half a sack and batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage. After a slow start to the year, he’s gotten back to being his disruptive self over the last three games.
Rodgers was pushing the ball downfield a bit more than in recent weeks and showed off a few vintage plays in the process. His touchdown pass to Connor Heyward was straight out of his 2011 repertoire. Running to his right, he flung the ball across his body, just past the fingertips of a Browns defender for a touchdown. His touchdown to Metcalf was placed perfectly in stride to Metcalf in the end zone. He also had a scramble drill that ended with a little flip pass to Jaylen Warren for a first down. Rodgers now has 10 touchdowns on the year, and he continues to show that he still has what it takes
I was this close to ripping...
