After a rough Sunday night football loss last week against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, the Steelers were able to bounce back and pick up their first win of the 2012 season this afternoon.
Ben Roethlisberger had a very solid day at the quarterback position, finishing the day with two touchdowns. While completing 24 of his 31 passing attempts (77 percent), Roethlisbeger used ten different targets throughout the day to help lead the team to a victory.
The Steelers opened the game off with a successful drive. A ten play drive, which featured an eighteen yard completion to Mike Wallace and a 26-yard completion to fullback Will Johnson, resulted in a 45-yard field goal by Shaun Suisham. The Jets responded very well though, putting together a touchdown drive, which was capped off by a Santonio Holmes fourteen yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez.
In the middle of the second quarter, Suisham hit his second 45-yard field goal and Nick Folk responded with a 38 yard field goal of his own, making the score 10-6. The Steelers were able to put together a very impressive drive, which took up almost the rest of the first half. An eleven play, eighty yard drive, was completed with a one yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller on a goal line fade route. The Steelers would take a 13-10 lead into the locker room at half time.
The Jets got the ball to start the second half and were forced to punt. The Steelers would be able to cash in on their first drive of the second half with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace. Perhaps the play of the game, Wallace was able to beat Antonio Cromartie in the end zone, giving him his second touchdown in as many weeks, but more importantly a Steelers 20-10 lead.
The next drive, the Jets brought out Tim Tebow for the first time in the game. The first play was an option which resulted in Tebow running straight up the middle for a 22-yard gain. That was all we would see from Tebow though, as those were the only yards he would pick up.
Once the beginning of the fourth quarter started up, the Steelers got the ball, and were able to ice the game right away. On one of the more time consuming/dominating drives we have seen from the Steelers in years, Roethlisberger and the offense were able to convert three third downs, and eventually punch it in on a two yard touchdown run from Issac Redman. A fourteen play drive, consuming over ten minutes of the fourth quarter, would give the Steelers a 27-10 lead, which would stand as the final score.
Steeler Nation should be pleased by the solid game brought to the table by their hometown team. Ben Roethlisberger and the defense helped even up the Steelers record at 1-1, and they will play game three of the season next Sunday afternoon against the Oakland Raiders.
