With the Pittsburgh Steelers playing their first game of the 2016 season, I'm excited to bring back my semi-regular posts with notes from Steelers games that you won't see anywhere else.
- There was a nice moment before kickoff with members of both teams and military personnel holding the American flag. I'm sure Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder was extremely proud of the gigantic American flag while in Dallas, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones plotted to make an even bigger flag.
- Washington dominated the first quarter by outgaining the Steelers 253 to 1 in total yards (these numbers may be incorrect but it felt this way). However, the Redskins only led 6-0 after failing to get into the end zone. I have to admit that I felt pretty good because I figured that the Steelers played pretty bad only to be one touchdown away from taking the lead (which is what they did).
- If you're the best corner in the game (Josh Norman), you should be able to blanket the best wide receivers like Antonio Brown. Why do you need to stay on one side of the field? Sure, Norman can boast that he Brown didn't do much against him, yet what difference does that make when your team loses by 22 and Antonio has 8 catches for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns?
- The best commercial on television is Ice T at a lemonade stand. I may switch to Geico just because of this commercial.
Conversely, Burger King's Cheetos chicken fries sound awful (though I really want Cheetos right now).
- ESPN's Jon Gruden provided my quote of the game when discussing Cameron Heyward. "He can go hard for a long period of time."
13 year old Sean smiled at this. Okay, 41 year old Sean smiled at this too.
Runner-up: ESPN's Sean McDonough on Steelers linebacker James Harrison: "The ageless linebacker is now 38 years old." 38 isn't ageless, it's 38.
Honorable mention: Gruden again. "I hope Le'Veon Bell is watching this game." There wasn't really any context to this other than Deangelo Williams playing well. Maybe ESPN was counting on a ratings boost from Bell watching the game
- The Steelers were 2 for 2 on 4th and 1 situations including Roethlisberger's 29-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown and were also successful on 3rd and short situations. I feel like Washington's defensive coordinator is going to have nightmares about 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 all week.
- Besides being partially responsible for Roethlisberger's interception, I thought Eli Rogers looked good (6 catches, 59 yards and a TD in the 1st half) in his NFL debut. I'm sure that someone already created a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood shirt in his honor. Maybe Doug?
- Although he ended up underperforming as a first round draft pick, it's nice to see Ziggy Hood still in the league. I know this Ziggy was happy to see him.
- You'd like to see the Steelers have more than, um, zero sacks, but they did a nice job of holding a team that was one of the best in the league during the second half of the 2015 season to only 16 points.
- The Washington Post's DC Sports Bog has some great stuff about the game too.
Congrats to the Steelers on the big win! Almost as importantly, my colleague now needs to wear a Steelers tie at an organization meeting or holiday party. If the Redskins won, I would have had to wear an ugly burgundy and gold tie. Everybody dance now!
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