Steelers tight ends earn their pay in win over Texans

In Sunday’s victory over the Texans, the wide receivers took a back seat role to Steelers tight ends. Unlike in the win over Denver a week earlier in which Diontae Johnson had eight receptions for 92 yards, and Chase Claypool burned Denver on an 84-yard touchdown.

One week later, against the Texans, Diontae Johnson gets knocked out of the game with a concussion, and none of the Steelers receivers had more than 43 yards receiving. The Pittsburgh’s tight ends, on the other hand, looked impressive as Ben Roethlisberger utilized his tight ends for more than three receptions in a game. If anyone had doubts about how useful Eric Ebron would be for the Steelers, He erased those doubts as he helped Pittsburgh go 3-0 for the first time since 2010.

Eric Ebron led the Steelers club in receptions and yardage for the first time this season. He had five receptions for 52 yards and scored his first touch down as a steeler. Ebron now has nine receptions for the season, and out of those five are for first downs. So far, in this young NFL season, when he catches the ball, he tends to give the Steelers a fresh set of downs. His statistics this season aside, Eric Ebron, in an interview before the game with the Texans, “winning carries it all.”  He sees his job as putting the Steelers in the victory column; as long as that happens it does not matter what kind of statistics he puts up.

Not to be outdone, Vance Mcdonald got into the mix as well. While not having the same performance as Ebron, he had three receptions for 35 yards. Two of the three receptions netted Pittsburgh 14 plus yards, and two receptions resulted in first downs.

Ultimately when Pittsburgh’s tight ends give the Steelers four first downs and six points, that’s not too bad, considering the Steelers, wide receivers struggled and had a lackluster performance compared to the first two games of the season. Given Houston gave Pittsburgh a competitive game and led for a chunk of the game, the tight ends saved the day. Take away Ebron’s six points; perhaps the game goes to overtime, or they squeak past the Texans 24-21. Either way, the Ebron’s and McDonald’s performance helped make it a two-score game late in the fourth quarter, making it impossible for the Texans to come back.

Anyone who wonders whether the Steelers’ tight ends are worth the money they are getting paid, they answered that question today as the stepped up in a big way, helping to keep the Steelers undefeated in the 2020 season going into week four.