Undefeated no more: Steelers’ unbeaten run comes to an end as Washington rallies to wild win
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The Pittsburgh Steelers’ perfect run came to an end Monday.
The Washington Football Team mounted a second-half rally to beat the Steelers 23-17 and hand the team its first loss of the 2020 campaign.
Pittsburgh, playing at home, led for nearly the entire game until Dustin Hopkins’ 45-yard field goal with just over two minutes remaining. On the first play of the Steelers’ ensuing drive, linebacker Jon Bostic hauled in a tipped Ben Roethlisberger pass for an interception.
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Hopkins connected on another 45-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining to pad Washington’s lead.
“Euphoria,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said of the team’s mood in the locker room after the win. “These guys deserve it. We’ve been down for such a long time, and we’re trying to rebuild ourselves and build up. This is something we can build off of.”
Washington tied the game in the fourth quarter on Alex Smith’s 15-yard scoring strike to tight end Logan Thomas. The Steelers had a chance to recapture the lead on the following series, but Roethlisberger’s fourth-and-1 deep pass for running back Anthony McFarland fell incomplete.
“Washington Football Team, they made the significant plays tonight, and we didn’t – particularly in the second half,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said in a postgame news conference. “I thought that was the difference in the game.”
Just five days after Tomlin ridiculed his team for a “junior varsity” performance in a win over the rival Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers again stalled in key stretches against Washington. With running back James Conner and center Maurkice Pouncey still on the COVID-19 reserve list, the Steelers rushed for just 21 yards on 14 carries. Pittsburgh also had seven drops on the game, pushing the team’s total to a league-worst 31, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
With the win, Washington (5-7) kept pace with the New York Giants for the NFC East lead, though the Giants hold the tiebreaker advantage. The Steelers (11-1) missed an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot.
“We’re faced with a loss now,” Tomlin said. “We get a chance to smile in the face of that.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Undefeated no more: Steelers’ unbeaten run comes to an end as Washington rallies to wild win