It has been nearly an entire year since we saw Ben Roethlisberger take a snap for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he finally returned Monday night. His return resulted in a 26-16 victory over the New York Giants.
Big Ben’s night wasn’t his best but the Steelers will take a rusty Ben Roethlisberger over Mason Rudolph 10 times out of 10. It took Roethlisberger six minutes into the 2nd quarter to throw his first touchdown, which helped him gain a rhythm for the rest of the game. He finished the night with 229 yards and three touchdowns while completing 21 of his 32 pass attempts.
Considering this was his first game in his sophomore season, is under learning his second offense in two years, and played against one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses; Daniel Jones had a good game overall. Jones completed 27 of his 41 pass attempts for 279 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Darius Slayton had another big game, once again showcasing his ability to be a threat in the deep passing game. The former Auburn Tiger finished the game with six catches, 102 yards and two touchdowns. One of those catches was a 41 yard post route that resulted in a touchdown. Sterling Shepard came down with six catches of his own for 47 yards, and Evan Engram was targeted seven times, but only came down with two catches for nine yards.
JuJu Smith-Schuster also had a pair of touchdowns on the night. He caught all six of his targets for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Dionate Johnson finished with six catches for 57 yards, and rookie wideout Chase Claypool had three receptions for 37-yards. James Conner went down early with an ankle injury, but Benny Snell was ready to step in for his place. The 2019 4th round pick rallied off 113 rushing yards on 19 carries.
The Steelers defense stepped up big as well, making the Giants young quarterback make costly turnovers. Daniel Jones was sacked three times, picked off twice by the defensive line (One being Cameron Heyward’s 1st career INT), and hit eight times by Pittsburgh’s defense. They also held Saquon Barkley to just six rushing yards on 15 carries. Barkley was able to grab six receptions for 60 yards but was ultimately contained for the entire game.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will now get ready to play the Denver Broncos (0-1) next Sunday at noon. The New York Giants will face off against the Chicago Bears (1-0) at Chicago also next Sunday at 12PM.
