Sunday Night Goes to OT, late fumble recovery leads steelers to 23-20 victory
By Joshua Hertz, Sports Director
— A defensive showdown was in store for fans when the Seattle Seahawks(2-4) fell at Pittsburgh(3-3) in an overtime thriller on Sunday night.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlsiberger supplied 229 yards through the air, while Geno Smith answered with 209 yards of his own, but a fumble in overtime sealed Seattle’s fate to give Seattle the victory
After a scoreless first quarter, Pittsburgh found the endzone twice in the second to take an early lead.After failing to score in the first half, the Seahawks rallied back in the third quarter through a strong performance by Alex Collins and a solid balance of pass and rush, rallying to a 17-14 score.
Seattle quickly tied it up in the 4th quarter behind a 40 yard Jason Myers kick. After 4
straight scoreless drives, including a rare fumble by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger,
the Steelers drove down the field behind a late surge by Najee Harris to set up a 52 yard kick for
Chris Boswell to give them the 20-17 lead with 1:29 to go.
A late fumble scare by D.K. Metcalf left 3 seconds on the clock, and late game heroics
by Geno Smith led to a spike with 2 seconds left to set up a game-tying 43-yard field goal for
Myers to send the game to overtime at 20-20.
In overtime, T.J. Watt poked the ball out of Geno Smith’s hands to set up excellent field
position for Pittsburgh to set up a 37 game winner for Boswell.
Strong Start
The Steelers got off to a good start, taking a 14-0 lead at the half. Roethlisberger and
Co. put together 177 yards on offense, churning their way through the visiting defense.
Roethlisberger had 119 yards in the first half, and looked sharper than he had in previous
games. The 39-year old found rookie running back Najee Harris for a 5 yard touchdown to put
the Steelers on the board first
Key Injuries
Both sides struggled on offense due to injuries to high profile players. Steelers star
receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster had season ending shoulder surgery after going down in their
Week 5 win against Denver. Seattle started quarterback Geno Smith, who last started in 2017
with the Giants, in place for the injured Russel Wilson after Wilson’s gruesome finger injury in
last week’s Thursday night loss to the Rams. Late in the 4th quarter, both teams came together
on the field after Seahawks linebacker Darrell Taylor was carted off the field after a head or neck
injury after colliding with an offensive lineman.
Super Bowl Rematch
The matchup of Seattle-Pittsburgh met in Super Bowl XL in 2006, in which Roethlisberger, in his
second season in the league, led Pittsburgh to victory over the Hasselback led Seahawks. From
the Super Bowl winning team, former head coach Bill Cowher and safety Troy Polamalu, both of
which were enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame this year, were in attendance.
Up Next
Seattle(2-4) will play host to the New Orleans Saints(3-2) on Monday Night Football.
Pittsburgh(3-3) will get a bye next week before heading to Cleveland to face the Browns in a
rematch from their wildcard playoff matchup last season.
Featured image by Joe Sargent/Getty Images