|
 2017 Steelers at Texans MNF
 Pittsburgh controls this Christmas Day massacre from the start. The Steelers open up a 10-point lead when on 3rd down, Ben drops a perfectly placed ball down the right sideline to Martavis Bryant for 36 yds, and a few snaps later hits Justin Hunter for a 5 yd TD. From there, the defense smothers Houston with 7 sacks (3 by Mike Hilton and 2 by Cam Heyward). The turning point comes in the 2nd quarter when Houston fails on 3 straight shots from the 1. On 4th-and-goal, Artie Burns picks off TJ Yates in the end zone. The Steelers capitalize with an 80-yd march fueled by a 22 yd Le'Veon Bell run, a spinning 3rd-and-12 conversion by Bryant, and a PI call in the end zone to set up a 1-yd plunge by Roosevelt Nix. Moments later, Cam Heyward strips Yates on a sack and Bud Dupree recovers at the Houston 28, leading to 20-0 halftime lead. In the 2nd half, the Steelers keep their boot on Houston's throat. The pass rush keeps collapsing the pocket while the offense stays patient, leans on Bell, and keeps moving the chains to burn clock. Midway through the 3rd, Eli Rogers flips the field with a long punt return, and Pittsburgh turns the short field into another scoring drive, capped by Bell's 10 yd run up the middle to stretch it to 27-0. After a remarkable acrobatic catch by DeAndre Hopkins ruins the shutout, Big Ben puts the finishing touches on it with a 49 yd bomb to Juju Smith-Schuster, then hits Juju again running wide open down the middle for an 18 yd TD to finish his day and clinch a playoff bye. |
Brought to you by mcmillenandwife.com
