The highs and lows of the Steelers home opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
1:05 p.m. – What Went Wrong: After Seattle won the coin toss and elected to defer, the Steelers went three-and-out and were forced to punt. A 5-yard completion to Vance McDonald was followed by a James Conner run for no gain, and then on third down Ben Roethlisberger found no one open before being sacked by Brandon Jackson for a 7-yard loss.
1:09 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers returned the favor on Seattle's first series, when on a third-and-8 Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt worked a game on the right side of the Seahawks offensive line. Hayward took his man to the outside, and then Watt cut off him to the inside and had a clear path to Russell Wilson, whom he sacked for an 8-yard loss. Following the punt, the Steelers second series began at their 10-yard line.
1:23 p.m. – What Went Right: Even though the Seahawks put together a drive that included a couple of first downs toward the end of the first quarter, that possession also included a couple of sacks by the Steelers. On the first, Stephon Tuitt and Mark Barron combined for one on second down for a 6-yard loss, and then on the ensuing play, Tuitt beat guard D.J. Fluker and dropped Russell Wilson himself for a 7-yard loss. Seattle punted, and the Steelers took over on their 13-yard line with five minutes left in the first quarter.
1:38 p.m. – What Went Right and Wrong: It certainly appeared as though the Steelers were going to take a 7-0 lead with their first takeaway of the season when T.J. Watt forced a fumble by RB Chris Carson. The ball bounced directly to Mark Barron, who returned it for a touchdown. An apparent touchdown, because Sean Davis was flagged for an illegal block in the back on Tyler Lockett at the Seattle 12-yard line. The penalty took the touchdown off the board and had the Steelers starting at the Seattle 22-yard line.
1:49 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers scored their first touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run by James Conner with 14:44 left in the second quarter, and the play was set up by a 16-yard pass interference penalty on Mychal Kendricks, who pushed Jaylen Samuels on a third-down pass near the pylon. The Steelers led, 7-0.
2:02 p.m. – What Went Wrong: It seemed as though the Steelers were going to escape the possession with a 7-3 lead having forced the Seahawks to settle for a field goal when Cam Heyward dumped Rashaad Penny for a 2-yard loss on third-and-1 from the 26-yard line. But on the field goal attempt, Dan McCullers was flagged for a personal foul and on the play right after the half-the-distance penalty, Russell Wilson threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to TE Will Dissly that tied the game, 7-7, with 8:40 left in the second quarter. Seattle's drive was 75 yards in 12 plays.
2:22 p.m. – What Went Right: It was one of those situations that was good but could've been better. After a Seattle three-and-out, the Steelers started at their 28-yard line and started moving the ball more consistently than they had at any point in the game. Ben Roethlisberger completed three straight passes for 39 yards, but things began to sour when Vance McDonald was flagged for offensive pass interference on a quick pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster that was going to convert a third down situation. A 9-yard pass to James Conner recouped some of the lost yardage, and Chris Boswell kicked a 41-yard field goal to give the Steelers a 10-7 lead with 2:38 left in the first half.
2:34 p.m. – What Went Right: The Seahawks were moving the ball effectively on the series after Chris Boswell's field goal, but then Cam Sutton made a couple of nice plays to put Seattle in a tough spot. With a first down at the Pittsburgh 36-yard line with 56 seconds left and no timeouts, Russell Wilson completed a quick sideline pass to C.J. Prosise, and Sutton came up quickly and made the tackle inbounds for a 1-yard loss. On the next play, Wilson completed a pass on the other side of the field to Tyler Lockett, and Sutton again made the tackle for a 3-yard gain. On third down, D.K. Metcalf was flagged for grabbing the facemask, and Jason Myers was left to attempt a 58-yard field goal. The kick sailed wide left, and the Steelers held a 10-7 lead at halftime.
2:45 p.m. – What Went Wrong: With two minutes left in the halftime break, the Steelers announced that Ben Roethlisberger had an injury to his right elbow and that his return to the game was questionable. It was announced that Mason Rudolph would start at quarterback in the second half.
2:54 p.m. – What Went Wrong: After the Seahawks went three-and-out top open the second half, the Steelers got the ball at their 19-yard line following the punt. On a third-and-8, Mason Rudolph threw a sideline pass to Donte Moncrief, who got two hands on the ball but failed to make the catch. The carom was intercepted by Bradley McDougald at the Steelers 40-yard line.
2:58 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Seahawks took advantage of the turnover and drove 40 yards in six plays to take the lead, 14-10, with 9:40 remaining in the third quarter. Russell Wilson converted a third-and-10 with a 13-yard pass to Nick Vannett, and then on the next play he hit Will Dissly for the 12-yard touchdown.
3:07 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers cut into Seattle's lead with a seven-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 33-yard field goal by Chris Boswell. The big plays on the drive were a 14-yard run by James Conner, and then a flea flicker in which Conner took a handoff from Mason Rudolph and then lateraled back to the quarterback, who then launched a pass down the field that JuJu Smith-Schuster grabbed with a combat catch over Lano Hill for a 45-yard gain. The Seahawks led, 14-13, with 6:21 left in the third quarter.
3:15 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Seahawks extended their lead with a seven-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 37-yard run by Rashaad Penny for the touchdown. On the seven plays, Seattle's shortest gain on any of them was a 4-yard run. It was Seattle 21, Steelers 13 with 2:56 remaining in the third quarter.
3:31 p.m. – What Went Right: Mason Rudolph made three big plays in directing the Steelers to a touchdown on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that closed their deficit to 21-19 with 11:16 remaining in the fourth quarter. On a third-and-8, he converted a third-and-8 with a 17-yard pass in which rookie Diontae Johnson made a great catch to reach behind and snag the ball. Then on a third-and-5, Rudolph escaped the pressure and scrambled for 7 yards and another first down. And then Rudolph again escaped pressure and dumped the ball to Vance McDonald, who ran the final 8 yards for the touchdown.
3:45 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Steelers got stung by the new rule allowing pass interference calls to be subject to replay on the series following their touchdown. On a second-and-20 from the Seattle 27-yard line, Russell Wilson threw deep down the middle of the field for Tyler Lockett, who was covered by Kam Kelly and Terrell Edmunds. Kelly appeared to run by the receiver without touching him and Edmunds' impact on the play appeared to be minimal if not non-existent. But after being ruled incomplete on the field, Pete Carroll challenged the play, and it was reversed on review. It ended up being a 38-yard gain. Three plays later, Wilson threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf, and Seattle had a 29-19 lead with 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.
3:57 p.m. – What Went Right: On the first play following a Jordan Berry punt, an aborted handoff to Chris Carson was scooped up by Devin Bush and returned to the Seattle 3-yard line. On the next play, Mason Rudolph found Vance McDonald all alone in the end zone after play-action for a touchdown. Following the PAT, the Steelers trailed, 28-26 with 5:34 remaining.
4:13 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Steelers defense needed a stop following Vance McDonald's second touchdown catch, but they failed to come up with one. After keeping Russell Wilson contained most of the afternoon, the Seattle quarterback had two significant scrambles, one for 10 yards and a first down and another for 15 yards that set up a fourth-and-1 that Chris Carson converted to ice the outcome for the Seahawks. Seattle then took a knee three times to clinch the 28-26 victory.
FINAL SCORE: Seahawks 28, Steelers 26
