Total Sports Enterprises “Total Impact” Players of the Week

by Christina "Tina" Rivers (3Rivers_Writer) on October 23, 2017

For each game of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2017 regular season, Steel City Underground in conjunction with Total Sports Enterprises (TSE) will award a virtual game ball, the “TSE Total Impact Award”, to one standout performer or performance.

Pittsburgh Steelers fans were excited about the Cincinnati Bengals coming to Heinz Field for a rivalry game this weekend and they got what they wanted, a win. With Stephon Tuitt out due to injury, there was some concern that the Bengals would be able to utilize the run game and keep the game close. The Steelers defense, however, was determined not to allow big plays.

The Bengals ran just 14 run plays to Giovani Bernard, Jeremy Hill and rookie Joe Mixon for a total of 71 yards (including three scrambles by Andy Dalton for eight yards). Mixon got the majority of the carries with seven carries for 48 yards. The longest play on the ground against the Steelers went for 25 yards. And then the Steelers forced Dalton and company to rely on the pass.

The Steelers defense really dialed up the heat in the second half of the game, grabbing two interceptions and four sacks.

Joe Haden grabbed his first interception as a member of the Steelers and his teammates gave him some love for the turnover.

https://twitter.com/steelers/status/922228047939432449

Not to be outdone, another veteran who has logged more consecutive snaps than most players on any NFL team – William Gay – decided he was going to make the Bengals offense hurt a little bit more.

.@Southcity22 snags his 11th interception in the Steel City. #BigPlay pic.twitter.com/io54P4oCEb

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 22, 2017

If that isn’t enough proof that this Steelers defense is the real deal and worthy of being the TSE “Impact Players” this week, four defenders logged a sack – in the fourth quarter – shutting down the Bengals to seal the deal for a Pittsburgh win: Cam Heyward, Tyson Alualua, Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt. It’s hard not to get excited by the production of this 2017 defense that is still ranked at the top of the NFL.

https://twitter.com/steelers/status/922241997645271041