Ben Roethlisberger-led Steelers look incredibly sharp vs Lions

The Pittsburgh Steelers impressed against the Detriot Lions at Heinz Field. Here’s how things went according to the script on Saturday night. 

Don’t read too much into the final score of this game; the Steelers starters manhandled the Lions in the first half, and it’s hard to be too upset with the Pittsburgh Steelers performance on Saturday night. While Though Jared Goff didn’t suit up in this contest, Keith Butler’s defense was fantastic – not allowing a single point in the first half.

Pittsburgh’s offense was equally as impressive early on. Ben Roethlisberger looked incredibly fresh – making a few very nice throws down the field and even extending the play at times. As a result, he finished the game completing 8 of 10 passes for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns for a perfect passer rating of 158.3, according to ESPN.

It was a pretty dominant performance all around, and the team got off to a 20-point lead in the first half. There were a number of players who really shined in this contest.

Steelers who shined vs Lions

As mentioned, the Steelers saw everything they needed to see and more out of Roethlisberger in the first quarter before exiting the game. But he wasn’t the only one who really impressed against the Detriot Lions on Saturday night.

Pat Freiermuth put on a show for Pittsburgh – hauling in two impressive touchdown receptions in the first quarter from Roethlisberger. His ball skills and ability to adjust to the ball in there were on full display.

Second-year guard, Kevin Dotson, also stood out to me as he bulldozed defensive linemen in the run game and offered Steelers quarterbacks a clean pocket in the passing game.

On the defensive side of the ball, Alex Highsmith was impressed once again as he came awfully close to a pair of sacks in this contest. It’s hard to pick out more than a few individual players who stood out in this contest, as the defense as a whole looked spectacular in the first half.

By the time Pittsburgh’s second and third teams took the field, most of the damage had already been done. Detriot started to fight back late in the game with the Steelers backups in the contest.

Eventually, the Pittsburgh Steelers would go on to win the game just 26-20, but this contest was never really close when it mattered. Most importantly, Pittsburgh’s starters stuck it to Detriot in this contest in the first half. There are going to be much better teams than the Lions in 2021, but this performance by the Steelers on both sides of the ball went according to the script.