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No panic in Steelers after horrific start

By Jim Wexell for The 7 min read
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From the notebook of a sportswriter who knew better than to live-tweet this latest Steelers game:

n So many of the experts — and I mean that without sarcasm — were ripping the Steelers early Monday night for ruining the organization’s future by trading the No. 1 pick away after Ben Roethlisberger went down in Week 2. They felt as the Steelers appeared headed for a loss to the woeful Miami Dolphins, and that Mason Rudolph was definitely not the QB of the future.

n I was kinda veering into that lane myself. I mean, who wasn’t?

n But I kept those thoughts to myself, because, one, I know Mike Tomlin’s teams are sluggish coming out of byes, and, two, all teams are sluggish with a concussed QB.

n If Rudolph wasn’t concussed, or feeling the effects of the injury from his last game, he sure was playing as if he was.

n One “expert” — and I do mean this one sarcastically — said on a radio pre-game show that the Steelers should treat this game like a preseason game and yank their starters at halftime. The lead over these Dolphins would be that big.

n That’s the kind of thinking that had Tomlin fired by Steelers twitter before the end of the first quarter.

n Defense is the difference between the past six, seven years of Steelers teams blowing late leads to bad teams and this team.

n And, of course, Minkah Fitzpatrick, the free safety for whom the Steelers had traded that No. 1 pick. He intercepted two passes against his old team, and it had to feel good, because Dolphins twitter had crushed him last week. But Minkah didn’t bite on any of it.

“It’s another week,” he said after the game. “It was cool that it was against my former teammates and former team. I have all the respect in the world for them. A two-pick game against anybody is a good game.”

n The last game in which Fitzpatrick had multiple interceptions was the three he had in the Arkansas game of his sophomore year in college. Was he hunting for that third one Monday night?

“I was looking for it,” he said. “I really didn’t have the opportunity, but I was looking for it.”

n Fitzpatrick picked off his namesake, Ryan Fitzpatrick, to set up 50 and 97-yard touchdown drives at the end of the first half and beginning of the second. In five games, he has three interceptions. Last year’s team leader, Joe Haden, had two.

n “Man, I think our secondary is very stout,” said defensive captain Cameron Heyward. “Having Steve (Nelson) and Joe, and then having Minkah and Terrell (Edmunds), and then you’ve got those nickels and those dimes. I think we have a complete secondary right now, and it really puts things at ease.”

n That stout secondary meshes well with a pass rush that gave the Steelers a team-record 107 sacks the last two seasons. This season they have 24 to rank fifth in the league in sacks per game.

n T.J. Watt, who played with a strained oblique, had two of the Steelers’ four sacks Monday night, and both were fourth-quarter strip sacks. Watt was asked if anything – perhaps his brother’s season-ending injury – motivated him to play so well through a painful injury.

“No. No,” he repeated. “You can’t motivate me any more. I don’t think it’s fair to any other team or to me or my teammates to say I’m more motivated one week than the other. I love this game and I love these guys in this locker room and I give everything I can every week.”

n Watt received attention from the trainers after every series, but when it was pointed out that he made the first tackle of the game and the last, he laughed.

“Just trying to make plays,” he said. “I mean, it’s so much fun when we’re winning at the end and we can get to passers, because we know we have the ability. We know our guys in the back end are going to cover, so we feel really confident rushing the passer, getting tipped passes, getting interceptions and all of that, and that’s what any defensive guy loves.”

n Watt’s first strip-sack occurred one play after “Renegade” was played over the PA system, which always whips the crowd into a frenzy. But a more symbolic song was played early in the game with the Steelers trailing 14-0. “Machine Head” by Bush contains a refrain that advises “Breathe in, breathe out.” That calm approach was personified by Rudolph.

n Rudolph not only gained confidence in the second half, he began chewing people out: Vance McDonald after a hold, the official after another ticky-tack penalty call, and the Steelers sideline after what appeared to be a critical delay-of-game call on second-and-1 at the Miami 4.

“That’s him, his attitude,” said David DeCastro. “He’s pretty intense. I like that in a quarterback. It’s a leadership factor. He’s a feisty guy naturally. I think you’re going to see that more and more as he gets more comfortable here. It’s good. I like it.”

n The receivers came through with some big plays for Rudolph, and that was covered in detail in the game story. But the big block, the big Hines Ward type of tone-setting block made by James Washington at the goal line, should rank with any of them. Washington crushed a Dolphins cornerback to open the door to the end zone for Diontae Johnson late in the first half.

“That was my big play,” said Washington. “If I can help a buddy get in the end zone, it’s a big play.”

n When Washington got to the sideline, teammates brought up Ward. “I was like, ‘Man, if I can be half of Hines Ward as a blocker, hey, I’m for it.'”

n Another unsung star that helped the James Conner-Rosie Nix run game was third offensive tackle Zach Banner. He might be on his way to becoming a new folk hero – if we are to believe the fans.

n Whenever Banner enters the game, the referee announces him as an eligible receiver. Once, Banner was announced at a point when fans thought a replay of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s fumble would be reviewed. The fans may have celebrated the announcement of Banner as a signal there wouldn’t be a review. Both Banner and DeCastro, though, believe the cheers were for Banner.

“He’s going to get fined for all that applause he’s getting,” DeCastro said with mock disgust. “People cheering him out there for being in the extra lineman package. He’s got enough attention right now. He’s only got five or six cameras over there (at his locker). Look at him.”

n It was a satisfying rally for a team that’s creeping back to respectability, but of course the Dolphins made enough poor plays to help the cause. That will no doubt bring out the Twitter experts as they call for a Colts win next Sunday.

n My instincts tell me they’ll be wrong again.

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