NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a clash of AFC titans Sunday at Nissan Stadium, it was the Steelers who vaulted themselves into sole possession of first place in the conference above the actual Titans — as well as the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and all other comers.
There's still a long way to go in this 2020 NFL season, but at least for now, there's no way the Steelers could be in better shape than they are after six games and seven weeks — and they could hardly look better doing it. The Steelers started strong and held on from there to hand Tennessee its first loss, 27-24, in a showdown of undefeated teams that was postponed from early October.
It felt like it would be an easy day for the Steelers when they scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time since Dec. 16 — of 2018. That was a Week 15 win against New England, and this one also ended in thrilling fashion.
Stephen Gostkowski pushed a 45-yard field goal try just a bit to the right with 14 seconds left. The kick was the only option the Titans had facing fourth-and-13, and the home fans initially cheered as if it were good, only to have the officials in the end zone wave it off. After leading by scores of 14-0 and 27-7, the Steelers came just a few feet from their biggest blown lead in franchise history. The Steelers had twice lost after leading by 18 points, in 1981 and 1971, but narrowly avoided overtime in this one.
In their first regular season game in the Music City since 2014, the Steelers found an early groove and played all the hits — but only for a half. Ben Roethlisberger was note-perfect early on leading the offense, the defense was rocking with big collisions and timely stops, and even the special teams were in rhythm as the Steelers continued their best start since 1978. They barely even needed punter Jordan Berry, who re-signed with the team Saturday and didn't kick until midway through the third quarter.
But that was all in the first 30 minutes. In the second half, the Titans woke up and tightened up, chipping away at a 17-point halftime deficit to get within a field goal early in the fourth quarter. Still, that early hole bedeviled the Titans once it was all over.
Roethlisberger completed 32 of 49 passes for 268 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, but one of those giveaways was on a Hail Mary heave at the end of the first half as time expired. He was close to a fourth pick that was tipped into the air but fell to the turf before a Titan could snag it. The third one, when he targeted JuJu Smith-Schuster in a crowd in the end zone, set up the Titans' potential tying drive with 2:25 remaining.
Ryan Tannehill led a two-minute drill that stalled a few plays after an intentional grounding penalty. Titans coach Mike Vrabel had one timeout left in his pocket but didn't use it before a third-and-13 shot to the end zone fell incomplete on the final offensive play.
In the first half, Roethlisberger was slicing up a leaky Titans defense over and over, whether threading the needle as he did to Diontae Johnson on his first touchdown, or simply getting the ball out quickly to let his playmakers do their thing, such as Johnson on his second score. He was so sharp at the start that he even won the coin toss and elected to receive, but then deferred from letting the Titans offense on the field.
Not that the first drive wasn't an adventure. There was a holding penalty that backed up the Steelers to second-and-16, then a fumble by James Conner — his first since Week 3 of last year — that he was lucky to recover. But Conner immediately redeemed himself by pirouetting for a first down on third-and-1 and stiff-arming a Titans defender to move the chains. As if that wasn't enough, another Steelers penalty took points off the board after Roethlisberger found Conner for what would've been a 1-yard touchdown pass.
That was followed by a vintage Roethlisberger flip to Eric Ebron as the Titans thought they were bringing him down that gained 5 yards. After all that, one play later, Roethlisberger fit a throw in a tight window to Johnson for an 11-yard score, making it a tidy 75-yard drive that actually required 100 yards of offense to complete. When it was all over, it kept the ball away from the high-scoring Titans and took 9:18 off the clock.
The defense returned the favor. Starting out in their 3-4 defense, which they played plenty of against the current king of running backs Derrick Henry, forced the Titans into a three-and-out (or four-and-out, if you count a holding penalty). It wasn't all fun and games for the Steelers defense, which allowed a quick-strike answer from Tannehill to A.J. Brown for a 73-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter that made it 27-14.
Tannehill was 18 of 30 for 220 yards and two scores, while Henry finished with 75 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries a week after exploding for 274 yards of offense against Houston. Replacing Devin Bush did take a village of sorts, as the Steelers mostly used their base formation with thumpers Vince Williams and Robert Spillane at inside linebacker (Spillane later left with an injury). On third-down situations, they used second-year sixth-round pick Ulysees Gilbert as their dime linebacker, and a cast of defensive backs in that sub-package that included second-year third-round pick Justin Layne. Bud Dupree even lined up at inside linebacker here and there, while fellow edge-rusher T.J. Watt dropped into coverage on occasion.
Watt was his usual stellar self, racking up a sack, three tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. Williams led the way with nine tackles and a sack of his own.
The Steelers are in for another tough test on the road next weekend, at Baltimore, which will be coming off its off week. They might be backing into that battle, but they're 6-0 at the end of the day.
