The Steelers started the season 3-1 heading into another Heinz Field battle with the team that helped them make the postseason a year earlier, the New York Jets.

At the time many thought the Jets could be a good team in 2016, and through a good portion of 2.5 quarters of football, they gave the Steelers a run for their money. New York opened with a 3-0 lead, which was then answered by the Steelers.

That answer and the game as a whole will be best remembered for Sammie Coates. Both the “good” and the “bad” Sammie showed up in this one, starting with the above mentioned “answer”: a 72-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger, which saw the steelers pull ahead 7-3.

The Jets would answer twice, first closing the gap to 7-6 off of a Nick Folk field goal. The Steelers would try and regain momentum off of a planned fake punt which went awry and set up the Jets with a drive ending in a ping-pong pass in the corner of the end zone. The throw should’ve been picked off by Ross Cockrell, but was literally stolen out of his hands by Brandon Marshall. This left Pittsburgh trailing 13-7 with about two minutes remaining.

Big Ben and company wouldn’t need all of that time, however. Using only 44 seconds, the Steelers marched 75 yards to go ahead 14-13 at the half. The drive highlighted the ups and downs of Sammie Coates, as he was mugged for a pass interference call that put Pittsburgh on the one-yard line, but then dropped a wide-open slant route pass which would’ve gone for six. On the next play, TE Jesse James was left uncovered for the go-ahead score.
Coates would again get open downfield at the beginning of the third quarter but dropped a sure touchdown on another deep ball. The boo birds arrived in the stadium, but it was later discovered that Sammie’s issues stemmed from a hand injury sustained before halftime. (We would further discover he had lacerated and/or broken fingers from various reports through the coming weeks.)

Still, the Steelers plugged along, first with a 47-yard Chris Boswell field goal to extend their lead 17-13.

Coates would catch another deep ball on a 3rd-and-3 when Roethlisberger fooled the Jets defense into an offside penalty and a free play. The connection was for 22-yards and the penalty would be declined, as the Steelers would strike again two plays later. On the opening snap of the fourth quarter, Ben would toss the third of his four touchdown passes to Antonio Brown, extending Pittsburgh’s lead 24-13.

After forcing the Jets to punt on their very next drive, the Steelers looked like they were in cruise control, driving to the Jets 14-yard line before Roethlisberger was pressured, sacked, and fumbled the ball. The Steelers defense would once again hold the Jets to nothing, while the offense came down the field with a nearly six-minute drive to close out the game with a final score of 31-13. Ironically, the final TD came from another Sammie Coates (after several drops) and the crowd acknowledged him with praise as the game went out of reach.

Other Observations

Aside from Sammie’s breakout (and breakdown) game, this one will also be remembered as potentially being the final time the Steelers wear their “bumblebee” throwback jerseys. Since the game was also played in the month of October, the NFL was simultaneously running a breast cancer awareness campaign, in which the players would add pink colored accessories to their standard uniform.

In what could only be described as unique, the black and gold striped kit was combined with pink mouthpieces, towels, gloves, and shoes, to create a look that was only seen previously in video games!

The other rising star was on the defense.

Vince Williams, following a 15 tackle (two for loss) and one sack game against Chiefs, maintained the status quo again in place of Ryan Shazier. Williams would add another sack accumulating nine total tackles, and increasing from the previous week’s TFL with three this time.

If you want to see why the Steelers gave Williams a three-year deal last offseason while moving on from Lawrence Timmons, there are the two games you want to watch.

Play of the Game

For a fifth straight week, Sammie Coates would connect with Ben Roethlisberger on a pass of 40 or more yards. This beauty, as noted above, went for 72 yards.

Another beautiful note: check out Coates’ gloves and shoes!