Steelers Slam the Saints at Canton
The Steelers opened the preseason and the Mike Tomlin era in an impressive fashion with a 20-7 win over the New Orleans Saints.
The Steelers put up 413 yards of offense, while the Saints managed just 214 yards, most of it coming in the second half with reserves in on both sides of the ball. If there were any questions about the Steelers offense coming together with a new coordinator and an updated playbook, they were answered on the opening drive on Sunday night against the Saints.
The Steelers starting offense came out and performed to near perfection on the opening drive. Ben Roethlisberger completed his first pass of the game for 55-yards to Cedrick Wilson. Roethlisberger came back to Wilson for an 18-yard completion to the Saints four-yard line. Wilson, who finished the first half with four catches for 99 yards, had made a plea for getting the ball earlier in the week after practice and his plea must have been heard.
Najeh Davenport, who started the game for Willie Parker, carried the load early and took his third carry of the game into the end zone for a four-yard touchdown to give the Steelers an early 7-0 lead.
Charlie Batch came in on the second drive of the game and played for two series, completing four of six passes for 51 yards and looking solid.
The Steelers managed to put rack up 305 yards in the first half alone, 205 of them in the air and 100 on the ground. Much of the ground attack came from first-year running back Carey Davis, who carried the ball six times for 67 yards in the half, including breaking free and shedding tackles for a 56-yard gain. Davis also had two catches for 32 yards in the half, putting on a good show as he is battling for a roster spot.
It wasn’t just the offense that shone in the first half though. The Steelers defense didn’t allow the Saints first-team offense to put any points on the board, something that they took pride in. The defense was swarming, holding the explosive Saints offense to just 56 yards and two first downs in the first half, and shutting them down 0-6 on third-down conversions.
Written by Pat Lovell - The Steeler FanaticPat has been following the Pittsburgh Steelers for over 30 years and is known worldwide as "The Steeler Fanatic". If you are interested in contributing to this website or would like Pat to contribute to your Blog, Website or Publication, Click Here.
