The Good the Bad and the Ugly: Steelers Week 12 Edition

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NFL

JuJu Dominates, Defense Holds their Own, Turnovers and More Turnovers

Week 12 of the NFL season saw a bizarre outcome during the Sunday afternoon games. The Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Denver and will now head back home following a disappointing loss to an average Denver Broncos team this past weekend.

The Good

JuJu Smith-Schuster and the Marching Offense

While the Steelers only managed to score 17 points, Pittsburgh’s offense certainly moved the ball effectively. The Steelers had the advantage in time of possession, total yards, and plays ran. Pittsburgh outgained the Broncos 527-308 in total yards on the night.

A big part of their offensive success was the budding star, JuJu Smith-Schuster, who completely took over. Smith-Schuster had 13 receptions, 189 receiving yards and a touchdown giving him nearly 36% of the team’s total yards. Perhaps the biggest play of the season was Smith-Schuster’s 97-yard touchdown in the third quarter of the game.

While the Steelers did lose, their success moving the ball and Smith-Schuster’s breakout season are definitely silver linings.

The Bad

Pittsburgh in Conversion Situations

While converting on third down or in the red zone, Pittsburgh struggled all night. The Steelers came into the night ranking second in the NFL at 75.76% in red zone conversions to touchdowns and went 1-3 last night. The only conversion was a fake field goal ran by kicker Chris Boswell who passed to tackle Alejandro Villanueva.

The Steelers had the ball within Denver’s two-yard line on the two failed attempts fumbling one for a touchback, and the interception to end the game. Pittsburgh was also horrid on third down, only converting five of the 14 chances for a 35.7% conversion rate. It is clear the Steelers’ third down conversion rate has a direct correlation to them winning.

When failing on third down or in the red zone, Pittsburgh simply cannot win a game.

The Ugly

Pittsburgh’s Turnovers

The real story of this game is Pittsburgh handing the ball to the Broncos. Including the blocked field goal, Pittsburgh turned the ball over five times against Denver. On the Steelers’ second drive tight end, Xavier Grimble fumbled at the one-yard line through the end zone giving a touchback to Denver.

Later in the game, Ben Roethlisberger drove Pittsburgh into Broncos territory and threw an errant pass that was intercepted. Two drives later, the Steelers turned the ball over again at the Broncos’ 46-yard line.

Running back James Conner fumbled the ball while being tackled by hitting his own arm. Pittsburgh put the nail in their own coffin on the final drive, throwing another interception.

After Pittsburgh drove 54 yards downfield, Roethlisberger threw another interception at the two-yard line to defensive tackle Shelby Harris. Both interceptions thrown were intended for WR Antonio Brown. While Pittsburgh controlled this game, their costly turnovers blew any chance of them winning.

Final Thoughts

While this loss is disappointing to all Steelers fans and their chances at home field advantage are all but gone, there is a silver lining in this game. Pittsburgh traveled out west and held their own against a weaker opponent in Denver. While the final score shows Denver on top 24-17, Pittsburgh could be seen as the better team.

The Steelers’ defense only surrendered 308 total yards and had this offense capitalize on any of their turnovers they would have won this game. Pittsburgh will head home this Sunday night to play against the Los Angeles Chargers in what should be a premiere AFC matchup.

Photo Credit

Featured Image courtesy of nflravens

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