Steelers at Cards Second Half Open Thread

The score sits at a 13-10 in favor of the Steelers, a somewhat surprising outcome considering how things started off rough, with multiple Cardinal drives ending in a punt, the Steeler’s pass rush getting home, and a long punt return for a touchdown from Diontae Johnson.

An early fumble from Steeler running back Benny Snell allowed the Cardinal’s a chance to get on the board, but only managed to walk away with a field goal after another bout of redzone struggles.

Kyler Murray looked the lesser of the two rookie quarterbacks early in their duel today, struggling to adapt to Pittsburgh’s blitz attack and being hard pressed to find open receivers when the heat was off. That later changed as he orchestrated a 12 play, 85 yard drive that ended in a Charles Clay touchdown.

Kingsbury dialed up the run game to poor success until late in the half, going tempo with multiple back formations sprinkled in.

On the other side of the ball, it’s been yet another unremarkable day from the Cardinal’s defense. It’d be hard to blame one were they surprised to find out that Develin “Duck” Hodges was a third-string rookie, with only one miss on 10 pass attempts for 90 yards and 28 rush yards to boot. The Samford product would answer the late Card’s score with a scoring drive of their own, setting Chris Boswell up to put them ahead by 3 as the first half ended.

It should be an interesting second half, as the coaching staff has struggled at times to adjust and counter-adjust after the break. Let’s hope that is not the case today as they look to put an end to a 5 game losing streak.