Week 10 Recap – Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Commanders

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Steelers Edge Out Commanders 28-27

November 11, 2024

By Noonefromtampa

First, Happy Veteran’s Day to all the current and former service members. Thank you for your service and sacrifices.

First Quarter

Washington deferred to the second half and kicked off to start the game. The Steelers returned the kickoff 21 yards out to their own 25. Najee Harris rushed for two yards on first down and Russell Wilson threw a 6 yard pass to Darnell Washington. On third down, Daron Payne stopped Cordarrelle Patterson for a 1 yard gain to force a punt.

Washington also went three and out on their first possession. After Austin Ekeler picked up 3 yards on first down, Jayden Daniels hit Zach Ertz for 5 yards. A strong Steeler pass rush forced an incompletion on third down and Tress Way punted it away.

On the Steelers’ second drive, Benjamin St-Juste was called for defensive pass interference on a throw to Pat Freiermuth for 14 yards. Harris then picked up 13 yards on successive carries. After an incompletion Jaylen Warren picked up 12 yards on a run over the left side. After another incompletion, Jeremy Chinn was called for roughing the passer, which put the ball at the Washington 16 yard line. Harris ran for no gain and then Wilson hit George Pickens for a 16 yard touchdown pass over Noah Igbinoghene. The extra point was good, giving Pittsburgh a 7-0 lead.

Terry McLaurin caught a nine yard pass to start Washington’s next series, but Ekeler lost 2 yards on second down. Daniels was sacked by Cameron Heyward for a 8 yard loss on third down, leading to a Way punt.

On Pittsburgh’s subsequent possession, Frankie Luvu sacked Wilson for a loss of 8 yards on first down; then, Wilson was chased out of the pocket and had to throw it away. Warren was tackled for a 3 yard gain by Bobby Wagner. The Steelers then tried a fake punt on fourth down, but the pass was dropped by the receiver, which gave Washington the ball at Pittsburg’s 15 yard line.

Olamide Zaccheaus caught a bubble screen and ran for 8 yards. Ekeler ran for 6 yards to the one and scored on the next play. Replacement kicker Zane Gonzalez converted the extra point to tie the game at 7-7.

After a touchback on the kickoff, Harris ran twice for 2 yards and Wilson threw an incompletion to Van Jefferson ending the drive with a punt. Zaccheaus fair caught the ball at the Washington 29 yard line.

Ekeler lost three yards on first down when the Steelers went with a run blitz. Two incompletions led to another Way punt.

Calvin Austin caught a screen pass for 7 yards and Warren ran for 9 yards to end the quarter.

Second Quarter

Warren ran for three yards on first down and picked up one on second down. Pickens caught a slant for 5 yards but was immediately tackled by Mike Sainristil. Zaccheaus bobbled the punt return and it was recovered by Pittsburgh at the Washington 14 yard line.

Harris then ran for 3 yards and Freiermuth caught a swing pass for 8 yards taking the ball to the Washington 3 yard line. Harris was stopped for no gain on first down. After an incompletion on second down, Steelers ran a rub route to free Freiermuth for the touchdown. The extra point was good giving the Steelers a 14-7 lead.

After the touchback, Noah Brown caught an 11 yard pass and then drew a 23 yard defensive pass interference penalty on Joey Porter Jr. Ekeler ran for 10 yards, but the drive stalled after that. Dyami Brown lost 2 yards on a screen and Ekeler lost 2 yards on an end run. Daniels missed Noah Brown on third down, which led to a 48 yard Gonzalez field goal to cut the lead to 14-10.

Warren returned the kickoff 35 yards and Wilson threw an incompletion on first down. Patterson ran for 6 yards on second down and Wilson scrambled for 6 yards to get the first down. Warren ran no gain on first down and Wilson threw two straight incompletions with Washington getting good pressure in the pass rush, especially from Dante Fowler and Jer’Zhan Newton.

After the punt, Washington started their next drive at their own 6 yard line. Daniels ran for the first time in the game, gaining 4 yards. McLaurin caught a 6 yard pass for the first down. Porter was called for a facemask penalty to give the Commanders 15 yards and another first down. After an incompletion, Ertz caught a 9 yard pass and Ekeler picked up 4 yards on third down. The same sequence happened again with an incompletion, a 9 yard pass to Ertz and a 3 yard run for a first down by Jeremy McNichols. This took the clock down to the two-minute warning. Ekeler ran for 7 yards around the right end but lost 1 yard up the middle on the next play. Daniels then hit a big play, a 23 yard pass to Luke McCaffrey to the Pittsburgh 15 yard line. Ekeler ran twice for 12 yards down to the three yard line. A wide-open Dyami Brown dropped the catch in the end zone on the next play.  Then, on the next play, Porter was called for defensive pass interference on McLaurin to put the ball on the one. Ekeler pounded it inside for the touchdown behind Tyler Biadasz and Nick Allegretti. The Gonzalez extra point was good giving Washington its first lead of the game 17-14.

After the kickoff return, Pittsburgh took a knee to end the half.

Third Quarter

Ekeler returned the second half kickoff out to the Washington 30 yard line. Daniels hit McLaurin on a slant for 54 yards to the Pittsburgh 17 yard line. After a Daniels run for no gain and a batted down pass attempt, Daniels hit McLaurin for 16 yards down to the 1 yard line. McNichols scored on the next play. Gonzalez hit the extra point to give Washington a 24-14 lead.

Pittsburgh responded with their own scoring drive, starting with an 11 yard run by Harris. The big play was a 26 yard pass to Warren on third down were Wilson was able to avoid the pass rush.  After a 10 yard sack by Fowler, Wilson hit Pickens for 34 yards to put the ball in the red zone. Harris scored a touchdown four plays later from the one. The extra point was good cutting the Commanders lead to 24-21.

After a first down play was called back on second down for offsetting penalties, the Commanders had two straight incompletion to end the drive. Percy Butler tackled the punt returner at the Pittsburgh 7 yard line to back them up.

An offensive holding penalty was called on first down and the Steelers only gained three yards before incompletion forced a punt which was a short 34 yard one.

Starting at the Steelers 42 yard line, Daniels hit Noah Brown for 8 yards and Ekeler picked up the first down two plays later. After a loss of one and an incompletion, Ekeler caught a 7 yard pass short of the first down line. Gonzalez nailed a 41 yard field goal to give Washington a 27-21 lead.

On the Steelers’ next drive, Harris was stopped for a 1 yard gain on first down and Wilson was sacked by Fowler on second down. Wilson launched a deep ball that was intercepted by Jeremy Chinn. He was ruled down by contact, negating a long return.

Daniels hit McLaurin for a toe-tapping 28 yard reception along the left sideline. McNichols ran for 6 yards on the next play, but Daniels was sacked by Heyward for a 11 yard loss.

Fourth Quarter

That was followed by another 11 yard loss on a pass to Dyami Brown. Way punted again down to the Pittsburgh 13 yard line.

Pickens caught a 4 yard pass to start the next drive, and Warren ran for 5 yards. On third down, Wilson hit Pickens on a slant for 12 yards. Harris carried twice for 9 yards. Harris was stopped for no gain on third down and was injured on the play. On fourth down, Warren picked up 4 yards over left guard for the first down. After an incompletion, Wilson threw a nice sideline pass to Pickens who got both feet down for a 24 yard gain. The Steelers then ran Warren five straight times, and he gained 28 yards down to the Washington one yard line. But on the last rush, Quan Martin pried the ball loose and Chinn recovered at the one for the second consecutive turnover for the defense.

Chris Rodriguez ran for 4 yards for Washington on first down, but John Bates was called for holding on second down. Daniels missed a wide-open McCaffrey on the repeat of second down and had to throw it away on third down under a hard Steelers pass rush. Way then punted 58 yards, but Austin returned it 15 yards to the Washington 46 yard line.

The Steelers were called for an illegal formation on first down and then lost one more yard on first and fifteen. Austin caught a 13 yard reception and Freiermuth call a 6 yard pass for the first down.  The Steelers ended up in third and long after a Harris one yard run and an incompletion. The Steelers then took a time out with 2:30 to go in the game. Mike Williams beat St-Juste on a go route for a 32 yard touchdown. The extra point was good to give the Steelers a 28-27 lead.

Ekeler returned the kickoff 30 yards out to the Washington 35 yard line. A strong rush forced an incompletion on first down but Daniels connected with Noah Brown for 14 yards on second down to take the clock to the two-minute warning. Daniels ran a quarterback draw for 1 yard and Watt hit Daniels’ arm to force an incompletion on second down.  On third down Noah Brown could not make the catch but appeared to be interfered with by an early hit. Ertz caught the ball for nearly a first down but was ruled short.

After the turnover on downs, Newton jumped offsides on fourth down to ice the game for the Steelers.

Thoughts

Noah Brown is looking more and more like the reliable number two wide receiver.

The officiating problems need to be fixed, why anyone would bet on an NFL game is beyond me. Too many missed calls and inconsistent calls in games.

The Eagles game just became more important to the overall season.

The injuries on the offensive line showed up in how effective the Steelers pass rush all game long.

Jayden Daniels has been a little off on throws since his rib injury and missed a couple in the game today.

Dyami Brown probably sealed his future to not be with this team next year by dropping a sure touchdown pass, luckily the team still scored.

We need another cornerback to go with Marshon Lattimore because Benjamin St-Juste keeps getting beat like a drum.