The Steelers seemed outmatched by the 49ers on a Monday Night game which included two power outages at Candlestick Park. The story of the game was the 49ers defense which sacked Ben as well as intercepted him 3 times, hit him 8 times, recovered 1 fumble, accounted for 9 pass deflections and totaled 6 tackles for a loss. The comparison's with the 49ers defensive efforts shows a very lack luster performance from the Steelers. Missing suspended linebacker James Harrison surely hurt but given Ben's injury, one would think that the black and gold defense should have found a way to be the story of the game instead.
The Steelers defense left Alex Smith untouched and only attained 3 tackles for losses and four pass deflections. Even more telling were the 6 more total tackles that San Fran gained over Pittsburgh's defense. So far the Steelers are ranked 24th in defensive turnovers compared to finishing 5th in that category last year. Seemingly, their opportunistic nature of the past has faded away leaving an older and less efficient defense. On the other side, the 49ers are currently ranked 17th in that category and more impressively their 15 game streak of not allowing a rushing touchdown matches the 1985-86 Bears for the longest since the 1970 season.
Ben Roethlisberger finished the game with 25 completions for 44 attempts and 330 yards. Alex Smith threw for 187 yards with 1 TD and completed 18 for 31 passes. Along with not throwing any interceptions, Smith was clearly the more efficient quarterback last night. The 6 more passing first downs that the Steelers gained over the 49ers could be more deceiving than Ben's numbers but if you watched the game you would have realized how little that stat means. Most of those throws were in an effort to come back in the game while Ben's deep passes sailed over receivers and didn't look nearly as accurate as they usually do. To his credit, a lot of the intermediate throws he made hit his wide outs in a timely manner but there were several chances for key plays that could have made a difference in the game's outcome. The ability to step into his throw on deep passes just wasn't there.
As defenses in the NFL know all too well, a healthy Ben would have been able to avoid rushers and make big plays with his arm as well as his feet. His 6'5 241 lb. frame is usually a nightmare for defenders to take down but as we saw last night, a hobbled ankle provided a sort of kryptonite for the 49ers. For a moment, the frustration on Ben's face as well as his words of disgust were clear for everyone to see. Even more evident of his lack of abilities was the anguish he showed when trying to complete passes during pre-game warm ups. Monday Night football analyst and former 49er Steve Young, questioned the Steelers decision to start Roethlisberger on numerous occasions, before and after the game.
