LANDOVER, Md. – Head coach Mike Tomlin gave the Pittsburgh Steelers’
first-team
offensive and defensive units their most extensive playing time of
the preseason Saturday
night against Washington.
And he wasn’t altogether pleased with what he saw.
Playing the entire first half, the Steelers offense could manage only
one field goal against
the Redskins.
Part of the reason for that was a first-string defensive unit that
couldn’t get off the field as
Washington was 7 for 10 in third down conversions in the first two
quarters.
But the end result of that poor play was just a 7-3 deficit and the
Steelers rallied with
three field goals in the second half to earn a 12-10 victory here at
FedEx Field.
Washington grabbed a 7-0 lead on its second possession, taking
advantage of a 15-yard
roughing the passer penalty on Steelers’ defensive end Brett Keisel.
Keisel beat his man at
the line of scrimmage, but lost his footing as he advanced on
quarterback Jason Campbell.
Keisel hit Campbell just below his left hip after he released the
ball, bending the
quarterback’s knee at an awkward angle.
Campbell’s pass was complete for 29 yards to tight end Chris Cooley,
but Campbell was
forced to leave the game with a bruised knee.
Backup quarterback Todd Collins replaced Campbell and finished the
drive with a seven-
yard touchdown pass to Brandon Lloyd that gave Washington a 7-0 lead
with 1:32
remaining in the first quarter.
The Steelers sputtered on offense until going to their hurry-up with
just over 5:40
remaining in the first half.
An offense that had managed just 27 yards and one first down to that
point drove from its
own 31 to the Washington 3 with five seconds remaining in the first
half. But Ben Roethlisberger’s third-down pass to Cedrick Wilson in the end zone
was broken up by
Carlos Rogers and the Steelers settled for a 21-yard Jeff Reed field
goal that cut the
Redskins’ lead to 7-3 at the half.
Roethlisberger completed 8 of 12 passes for 87 yards and also
scrambled four times for
17 yards in his most extensive playing time of this preseason.
For the third consecutive game, the defense – which at that point was
made up of second-
team players – allowed the opposing team to score points on its
opening possession of the
second half.
This time, it was a 48-yard Shaun Suisham field goal with 6:38 left
in the third quarter that
extended Washington’s lead to 10-3.
But the Steelers trimmed that lead to 10-6 on a 28-yard Reed field
goal with just over 12
minutes remaining.
The Steelers then got a break when linebacker Clint Kriewaldt forced
a fumble by rookie
tight end Jake Nordin and cornerback Ricardo Colcough recovered the
ball at the
Washington 24.
Pittsburgh stalled for a third time inside the Washington 10,
however, and settled for 22-
yard field goal from Connor Hughes that cut Washington’s lead to 10-9
with 7:20 to play.
The Steelers got the ball back at midfield with just over six minutes
and Hughes booted a
19-yard field goal after rookie Gary Russell was stopped short on
third-and-goal from the
1. That lifted the Steelers to a 12-10 lead with 1:31 remaining on
the game clock.
Rookie William Gay then sealed the victory with his second
interception of the preseason
with no time left on the clock.