The Steelers won a definition of a barn-burner tonight by a score of 24-20. Despite arriving in New York early today, the Steelers overcame being the underdogs and beat the Superbowl champion Giants.
Ike Taylor intercepted Eli Manning late in the first quarter and the Steelers would cash in and jump on the board first. Ben Roethlisberger hit Emmanuel Sanders for a four-yard touchdown on a tremendous catch as he was able to tap his feet in the end zone .
The Giants answered with a touchdown scoring drive of their own. New York, who was set up with a third and goal, got a first down on a controversial personal foul penalty thrown on Ryan Clark, after a incomplete pass intended for Victor Cruz. The next play, Andre Brown punched it in from a yard out to tie the game up.
The Steelers would get the ball back and give it right back to the Giants who scored on a defensive touchdown. On another controversial play, Roethlisberger was charged with a fumble that Michael Boley returned for a touchdown. They reviewed the play and almost everyone felt Roethlisberger had control of the ball and that he threw an incomplete pass. The referees called it a fumble and a touchdown.
Despite the referees not helping the Steelers, they were able to tack three on the board and trailed 14-10 at half.
The Steelers went three-and-out to start the half and the Giants responded with a 50-yard field goal from Lawrence Tynes. Ben Roethlisberger made his only mistake of the game when they got the ball back, throwing an interception into coverage. The Giants would get a field goal off of the bad throw and were trailing 20-10.
An answer was sent across by the Steelers as they responded with a 51-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace to cut the lead to three.
The Giants would go three-and-out and punt away to Emmanuel Sanders, who returned the ball 63 yards to the Giants twelve yard line. The Steelers, who had a fourth and one from the Giants three, elected to send the field goal team onto the field. Some said the Steelers should have gone for it, and others were happy they were taking the points to tie it up, but the Steelers elected to run a fake field goal which was stuffed by the Giants defense and after the Sanders return was a huge missed opportunity.
The Steelers would get the ball back after a three and out and would drive down the field to take the lead on an Issac Redman one-yard touchdown run. The Giants would get the ball back and be forced to punt after a three and out and wouldn’t get the ball again, as the Steelers were able to ice the game away.
Redman, Sanders and Chris Rainey were all the stars of the afternoon for the Steelers as Redman carried the load on the ground. Sanders had some big conversions to go along with a solid punt return, and Rainey played a huge role in the kick returning game.
The team plays next Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs and tonight’s win is definitely the best one fans have seen all season. Beating the Super Bowl champions on the road
Photo Credits: Getty Images
