It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t dominating but for the second week in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers gutted out a win on the road. Thanks to another strong effort in the run game and stout defense the Steelers have improved to 5-7 on the season after beating the Atlanta Falcons 19-16.
Running back Najee Harris dealt with an abdominal injury during the week but showed no ill effects on the way to 86 yards rushing on 17 carries. Harris continues to show growth in his vision and anticipation and is really taking advantage of the improved run blocking by the Steelers offensive line.
Rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett had another efficient outing. Pickett finished with 197 passing yards and one passing touchdown to rookie tight end Connor Heyward. More importantly, Pickett didn’t turn the football over and has now 128 straight passes without an interception. The best ever streak by a Steelers rookie.
The Pittsburgh defense did its job containing quarterback Marcus Mariota and the Falcons run game and despite some lapses in coverage, the secondary came up with an interception to seal the victory.
Pittsburgh now returns how for its toughest test of the second half of the season so far with the Baltimore Ravens coming to town.
