Week 5 Game Thoughts and Synopsis

Final Score: Steelers 27, Broncos 19

This game marked my return to Heinz Field. I hadn't been since 2019. The game where Mason Rudolph got completed obliterated. Off topic, but that is the quietest I have ever heard Heinz Field. Yesterday was the opposite of that.

Quick Synopsis

The Broncos won the toss and deferred. The Steelers did exactly what we did last week and scored a touchdown on the opening drive with a pass to Diontae Johnson. At the half we were up 17-6 after a diving play by Najee Harris and two Bronco's field goals. Speaking of Harris, my favorite rookie ran for a career best 122 yards, on top of his touchdown.

On our first drive of the second quarter we kept the ball for 7:16 and capped the long drive in a touchdown pass to Chase Claypool. This play did seem to wake up the Broncos, but with the score being 24-6 with 2:41 left in the third quarter it was too little, too late thanks in part to cornerback James Pierre, who intercepted Teddy Bridgewater in the end zone with seconds left on the clock.

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous going into yesterday's game for three main reasons: the line had been even until Teddy Bridgewater came out of concussion protocol on Sunday morning and was set to play. I didn't confirm, but I assume that means the Broncos were favored by game time. My second reason for being nervous was that this was my first time back at Heinz Field since this devastating day:

My third and final reason for being nervous was that the day did not start auspiciously. On the way into the stadium they shut our gate down to "clean up" trash that people had thrown on the ground. Mind you this is outside the stadium, and the trash in question seemed to be empty bottles. I'm unsure if this is a new COVID protocol or what but I was starting to get genuinely nervous that we were going to be right in the middle of a riot. The funniest part was watching a bunch of pissy fans take out their cameras and start recording this injustice. Insert crying face emoji.

All in all, however, I didn't have much to worry about. Juju Smith Schuster is out for the season with a shoulder injury, which is devastating. So to the 12 year old boy who sat next to me at the game and assured me he would be fine because he got off the field on his own: nah nah you were wrong.

Other than the loss of Juju, the only other sad thing about the game was that my boyfriend and I missed them playing renegade. I was under the impression that they always did this in the third quarter but apparently they played it yesterday in the fourth (we left with ten minutes left because we were hungover and it felt like a million degrees in the stadium).

Finally, to all the "Ben isn't washed up" comments on I saw on twitter this am: okay yes he threw a few good passes but did you all miss the three passes that he threw that would have been easy interceptions if the Broncos hadn't dropped them? I'm still in the Ben is washed up camp. Sorry to say.

Other news from around the league. The injuries keep coming. I can't stop thinking about Joe Burrow's "throat contusion" which is apparently a thing that can make you go to the hospital if it is bad enough. Also, did anyone else see Saquon Barkley's ankle? I wish I hadn't....