2016 Steelers @ Redskins

espn welcomes you to the following presentation of the national football league moments ago the toss of the coin the referee craig rolstadt the honorary captain for the redskins former navy seal rob o'neal who was a veteran of 400 combat missions and he was a part of the navy seal team six that took down osama bin laden in 2011. they expect a sellout crowd more than 80 000 on a beautiful night here in washington dc was very hot and humid on saturday with a temperature in the high 90s with high humidity right now around 80 degrees and low humidity pittsburgh won the toss and deferred so chris boswell will kick off chris thompson and will blackman back deep and for the steelers and the redskins the season is underway with a touchback with the new rule that will come out to the 25-yard line washington led by kirk cousins last year led the national football league and completion percentage of just under 70 overall but better than that at home 74.7 broke a record held by drew brees and he threw for 4 166 yards also the redskins single season record a great year for cousins but he talked openly john yesterday about not wanting to be a one-hit wonder he knows to be regarded as a great quarterback in the league you have to sustain it he throws short jordan reed to do it all tight end with a 12-yard gain in a first down hey the statistics are great for cousins but when you have success you acquire confidence and kirk cousins in his first year coming into training camp as a starter has asserted himself as the leader of this football team and i think he's going to come out firing a lot tonight here veteran out of michigan state he hands it off to matt jones and he gets plastered on his first carry ryan chazier with the initial hit down low jones with the departure of alfred morris to the dallas cowboys will be the featured back desean jackson your brother jay gruden told us yesterday he's healthy and he's never seen him faster in practice that's fast in the contract here which sometimes makes you even faster talented offensive line led by the left tackle trent williams coach bruden j that is says he's the best left tackle in the league plenty of time for cousins and the ball dropped by jordan reed with lawrence timmons the veteran linebacker now in his 10th year in coverage for pittsburgh timmons does it all for the pittsburgh steelers and you're going to see him in zone coverage just keying the quarterback and on the right side of your screen jordan reed hooks over the ball and right out time is lawrence timmons now 30 years old still very productive and on third down and long expect anything from defensive coordinator keith butler this is where the steelers love to be they're very good on third down last year the redskins 44 fifth best in the league just a four-man rush cousin's throw a little bit low reed showing his athleticism has the first down to the pittsburgh 49. that's all jordan reed that's a poor throw by kirk cousins the protection is outstanding but this ball is thrown below the knees and watch jordan reed catch this ball away from his body make lawrence timmons miss in the open field and die for a critical first down and you can convert third and tenths against the pittsburgh steelers hard to do reed had 87 catches a year ago that was the washington franchise record for a tight end a former quarterback in high school in new london connecticut and also played some quarterbacks at the university of florida cousin incomplete catch made by ryan grant but he's out of bounds here's the pittsburgh defense the leader of the front one of the team captains cameron hayward and they're looking for more this year coach from jarvis jones former first round pick now in his fourth year really hasn't emerged as they had hoped and they didn't pick up his fifth year option a lot of pressure on jones to deliver and again in these second and long predictable passing situations look for jones to do what he does best that's russia pastor play clock down to one on the delay matt jones in trouble and drop behind the line of scrimmage penetration from cameron hayward and bothered recently by an ankle injury but you just can't get him off the field a lot of deception on this running play and it didn't fool cameron hayward who just disengages from trent williams and stuffs matt jones hayward an outstanding player hasn't been to a pro bowl but what you love about him the most is his stamina he can go hard for a long period of time played an 80 straight game since entering the national football league can they convert on another third and long four man rush again well protected reed again showing his athleticism in space doesn't get the first down about a yard shy and jay gruden has a decision to make fourth in a long one and jay gruden who has an assortment of tight ends is going to elect the punt do you like the decision or you want to blast your brother right out of the gate i think i'll take a shot at my brother i might go for it at home in the opener but you never know i've seen a couple fake punts early in the season let's see if they punt it or they go for the fake good field position and good down and distance to try it expressway punch it away eli rogers rookie playing in his first nfl game makes the fair catch 28-yard punt and the pittsburgh offense will take over at the 13-yard line when we come back espn's monday night football is brought to you by toyota let's go places and by nflshop.com get free shipping on orders today at the official store of the nfl first possession of the season for ben roethlisberger and the pittsburgh steelers offense scoreless game just underway big bend and the steelers begin from the 13. d'angelo williams the running back jesse james the new starting tight end the motion man williams the 33 year old back to the line of scrimmage and that's it good penetration by chris baker number 92 robles burger the all-time leading passer in yardage and in touchdowns in steelers history and john mentioned despite missing four games last year in parts of four others he threw 16 interceptions his most since 2006 when he led the league with 23. right away in a no huddle here comes rocklesburger very quick throw first career character eli rogers been all of last year injured with a broken foot and ben roethlisberger told us last night coach he could be the best slot receiver they've had since ben's been there that's saying a lot because they had a guy named heinz ward who wasn't too bad third down at five watch roethlisberger at the line of scrimmage try to recognize what defense the redskins are in and try to get the steelers in the best place selection will compton in the start of the chess game with ross robles burger looking him right in the eyes as you saw deangelo williams belted down along the near sideline the original wrap up from sua cravens a rookie out of usc second round draft choice cravens a hybrid player at usc i didn't know what cravings was was he a safety was he a linebacker defensive coordinator joe berry has inserted him as a dime linebacker to make those one-on-one space tackles against gifted backs like deangelo williams good start for the defense on the graphic he was both a defensive back in the linebacker at usc craven here's the australian jordan berry to punch jameson crowder back deep he has some room and he made a fair catch wow if he had that to do over again he would there wasn't anyone near him 46-yard punt three catches on the first possession for reid they'll be back out on offense after this three and out for the washington defense their first time on the field tonight but still tempers flaring josh norman into it early with his new teammates including a new david brewton who's over from denver this year no score second possession for washington from the 33 matt jones out to the 37 tackled by jarvis jones gotta get matt jones in the washington running game going they're the only team in the league that doesn't have a back that has over 500 yards injuries fumbling concerns have plagued jones but he has a lot of talent he needs to get some confidence early cousins all day to throw desean jackson showing his great speed and out of bounds at the pittsburgh 31-yard line chased out by the safety mike mitchell there's a lot of different coverages you can play but you don't want lawrence timmons covering deshaun jackson on anything one coverage by the steelers and deshawn jackson in his career 17.7 yards of pop puts him in rare company expect the blitz sean excuse me here it's time for keith butler to bring some of those well-documented blitzes that we've seen from him as the new defensive coordinator of the steelers well they haven't come after cousins and he's had plenty of time well protected by the offensive line back to the run nice hole for joan and a hard earned eight yards to the pittsburgh 23-yard line the pittsburgh defensive coordinators keith butler in his second season after a long stint as their linebackers coach you know they gave up a lot of yards 21st in the league you hear some criticism but they only gave up 19.9 points a game they were better in the red zone they had more sacks more turnovers a lot of young players on this steeler defense and veterans like timmons has to raise everyone's play right now cousins the quick pop deflected and almost intercepted when off the hands of russ cockrell ross couldn't grab it jackson it's that overload blitz on the left side of the screen here they come he sees it all the way and he wants to throw one of those rpos to deshawn jackson and they're not on the same page rpo is a run pass option you have a running play called with a built-in pass option and the redskins are lucky that time now third down and two five receivers spread the formation a sinker from cousins and a good catch deshawn jackson for the first down with cockrell and coverage that personnel grouping is a difficult one for pittsburgh they have three tight ends on the field and they isolate desean jackson let's see if he makes this catch looked like he had both elbows underneath the ball good concentration big first down but these tight ends sean the addition of niles paul who came back from an injury and the veteran vernon davis to go with jordan reed gives washington tight ends they haven't had before they used tackles at the tight end position last year opponents knew they wouldn't throw it to them jones again you made the observation as you watched him he is a very upright runner who takes a lot of hits and he's been pounded a bit already he has and he's taken a lot of shots in the preseason one against the jets put him on the shelf for a few weeks he's got to learn when and when not to unload on defenders he's got to do a better job staying on the field and you got to like his last three runs he is a big back that can get downhill chris thompson has come in to take his place he goes wide to the left an excellent receiver cousins again with time lost for the end zone broken up in the back of the end zone intended for jordan reed he wanted a flag against ryan chazier the linebacker running with the tight end in coverage that is a great job by shazir it's a blitz coming off the left side of your screen and washington picks it up and they're going to get jordan reed running right down the field one on one with ryan shazier who does an outstanding job covering one of the premier receiving tight ends of football that's big time tyson's here third and six cousins five out of nine for 76 yards again time and again a low throw tried to zing it to jameson crowder and it was off target cousins has not been sharp early in this game that time crowder coming back to the inside is open and kirk just missed the throw he's been low tonight that's the third time tonight he's been off target and low i'm sure quarterback coach matt cavanaugh is going to have some words with cousins cooley there's hopkins dustin hopkins but his second year with the redskins took over last season and had a great year as you saw by the numbers 25-28 this is a 31-yard try and the redskins are first on the board with 5 56 to go in the first quarter washington 3 in pittsburgh nothing field where the washington redskins leave the pittsburgh steelers three to nothing sean mcdonough with john gruden and lisa salters on the sideline dustin hopkins to kick off sammy coach back deep with fitzgerald toussaint for pittsburgh with a new touchback rule with the ball coming out to the 25 a lot of kickoff teams in the preseason have pooched it and tried to stop the returners short of the 25-yard line but jay gruden said we tried the pooch in the preseason and we gave up a touchdown he likes the touchbacks and you like ben roethlisberger it's been interesting how the perception of him has changed a bit over the years he doesn't get the credit for how he's playing the quarterback position he's calling his own plays sean when he's out here in this no-huddle offense it's a credit to him he's using the snap count to recognize the defense then he's got to communicate what play he wants run the challenge for roethlisberger is he's got a lot of new faces 81 jesse james at tight end replacing heath miller you said it eli rogers number 17 sammy coats can these young guys play to ben roethlisberger's ability and experience always been appreciated for his physical talents and his size and strength and now appreciated for his mind as well quick hitter to antonio brown he slides ahead to the 30-yard line brown the big weapon for ben roethlisberger 375 catches the last three years rogers and coats trying to fill the void alongside antonio brown and antonio told us last night he thinks they will fans around the country don't know much about rogers and coach but the steelers fake they're very talented they just haven't had the chance they have it tonight deangelo williams on second and five patiently navigated his way to the 34-yard line one yard shy of the first down chris baker the tackle angelo williams the all-time leading rusher of the carolina panthers all you read about is how old he is but every time you watch him play he makes a lot of yards for his career he's averaging almost 4.8 yards a carry he caught 40 passes and scored 11 touchdowns and he's got to carry the load while le'veon bell is back home as he did last year when bell missed much of the season fell played in only six games last year washington blitzes on third and one they didn't get there and it's a catch for eli rogers trying to dance away from josh norman he's down to the 46-yard line of washington a 20-yard game one of the reasons antonio brown has been so hard to defend is they've had other people take the pressure off them and here's rogers on a shallow cross you see jesse james 81 run some interference and just brown late to arrive big first down for the steelers two early catches for rogers in his nfl debut undrafted out of louisville a year ago he was a teammate and very close friend of teddy bridgewater and a drop by sammy coats redskins looking for improvement in the defense this year particularly in the past defense the star is ryan kerrigan one of the all-time sack leaders in redskins history with 47 and a half and jake gruden says the strength of that defense behind will thompson is the secondary out of new faces particularly at safety for david bruton the ex denver bronco mans a strong safety position primarily a special teams player in denver the seven years started only eight times at safety routes burger on second and ten intended for rogers and intercepted by bashad bralen and he's out of bounds in pittsburgh territory we just talked about it you have young players playing critical positions rogers and roethlisberger clearly not on the same page and this will test any better in quarterbacks patience left side of your screen you're going to see eli rogers working in the middle of the field roethlisberger has good protection almost appeared ben expected rogers to turn over the opposite shoulder and there's brashad freelance quietly becoming a very good defender for this defense i take a look on that sideline i'll bet todd haley the offensive coordinator is visiting with rogers right now can't have that in the middle of the field after the turnover a 26-yard return on target cousins to jameson crowder and he has another washington first down anthony chicolo a backup linebacker made the tackle and cousins brings them toward the line quickly here comes vernon davis the ex-san francisco 49er and last year they used an offensive tackle as a tight end when they went to their two tight end sets the one thing that's obvious about davis is he can still run and he is a one tight end on his team that can block the point of attack reconnected the line at the other end cousins pass complete pierre garcon the veteran his first catch of the night and he took it down to the 20-yard line ross cockrell made the stop there's sean mcvay the youthful offensive coordinator for the redskins just 30 years old he's going to be a great one and he's got a lot of weapons at his disposal he told me left tackle trent williams wants to catch passes they got a lot of guys that he can utilize and i'd be surprised if he doesn't keep throwing it but you can see he's using a lot of these no bad sets against the steeler defense and again glitchburg not living up to the name so far tonight and a flag down for a procedure call false start offense number 78 double clutch to snap five yard penalty second now well you talk about jay gruden your brother he loves the tight ends and it gives you a lot of versatility when it comes to formations and personnel groupings well you got one back two tight ends or one back three tight ends and last year the redskins had to use tackles as tight ends but with the return of niles paul who's a real versatile tight end the addition of vernon davis and jordan reed these two personnel groupings become difficult on defenses because you don't know if you should play your base or your sub defense against these great receivers second and nine for the 25 four-man rush again cousins this time pressure's had to throw it away there's a pass rush and it's been coming from the same place tonight 97 cameron hayward at defensive tackle some push on corey lichtensteiger the center and might be an intentional grounding i think cousins will potential grounding as 86 was in the area third down that's what they were looking for and on third down and nine let's see if keith butler brings some pressure to try to knock washington out of field goal position 201 to go in the first quarter washington and field goal range already has a field goal from hopkins yes the three-man rush from the steelers cousins off his back foot caught by garcon but he's chopped down immediately robert golden now is starting safety primarily a special teams player in his first four years with the steelers made a big tackle in space that's a bad play by cousins he's got to recognize it's a three-man rush the steelers bluff the blitz it's a three-man rush push up in the pocket let something happen down the field use your legs a little bit against some of these three-man rushes here's hopkins again but that's good pittsburgh defense once again in the red zone the 40-yard field goal attempt out of the hole to the punter tres way veteran long snapper nick sunburn good pressure off the edge from the steelers but the kick is up and good already burns a rookie out of miami almost got there there's a flag down against pittsburgh we'll have to get the band to stop for just a moment offside is the call it would not be a first down so jay gruden has a decision to make he wants to take the points off the board offside defense number 25. that penalty is declined the result of the play is a field goal timeout well that's why burns got close to blocking it six nothing washington late in the first we're back just outside our nation's capital washington redskins opening this 2016 season in land over maryland talk of a new stadium but they have a lease here through 2027 so it's not likely to happen anytime soon three possessions for washington all of them made it into pittsburgh territory but just two field goals for justin hopkins who kicks off to sammy coats and fitzgerald tucson kind of last year because they liked his big leg on kickoffs and he's a touchback machine can pittsburgh find a rhythm on offense we'll find out after this 6-0 washington late in the first quarter dealers getting ready to go back to work on offense delighted to have marquis pouncey back one of the best centers in the nfl missed all of last year with a broken leg suffered in the preseason he and his mates have a number of challenges with the noise tonight and largely a no-huddle offense run by ben roethlisberger under center on first down ben in trouble the ball is out as he got knocked down and the redskins had it for a moment and then it came out again ryan carrigan seemed to have the ball in his possession but it came out of his grasp and now it's the strongest man at the bottom of the pile win second down for pittsburgh that's a big break for the steelers ball is going to be clearly out kerrigan strips it finds it picks it up and there's pouncey the man you just talked about making a great play for pittsburgh roethlisberger lost only two fumbles all of last year and did not lose one on a sack fortunate that that did not happen there second and 22 back out of the gun and a screen for deangelo williams with blockers out in front of him got the lost yardage back in and a couple more will compton took him down it'll be third down at eight it's a great call by todd haley the offensive coordinator screen pass the deangelo williams right off the left side you'll see 51 compton come from right to left he's got to come a long way to make this tackle you can see why he was the grinder great effort by compton it's the end of the first quarter 41 yards of offense for todd haley in pittsburgh back in landover maryland at fedex field start of the second quarter pittsburgh down six to nothing facing third and eight the steelers at their own 27-yard line roblesburger plenty of time throws at a great catch in traffic made by the great antonio brown great catch and great throw by big ben that's having confidence in your go-to receiver step up in the pocket throw the ball with some anticipation and trust your receiver and antonio brown watch him snatch this ball bring it back to his body to protect it catch great work justin smith almost got to roethlisberger on that last pass two catches for brown bend back under center d'angelo williams shot down by josh norman after an eight-yard run david johnson does an excellent job coming across the formation to kick out the backside and set this cut back up watch johnson come all the way across the formation and kick out ryan kerrigan a beautiful cutback design run by pittsburgh on second and two william first down across midfield with the 49 kedrick goldston made the tackle for washington this red skin run defense heavily scrutinized throughout the off season 31st against the run last year gave up 4.8 yards per carry and pittsburgh knows it they're going to test this defensive line a lot of new faces up front for the redskins including ziggy hood the former steeler number 90. williams runs in his direction and he's taken down to the 46th foot at the bottom of the pile with will compton these are old school pittsburgh steeler running plays double teams pulling guards downhill runs and deangelo williams checks out of the game here's our first look sean at fitzgerald dusan who played a key role in the playoffs last year for the steelers third year man out of michigan play big two-two shot ben dumps it off the tight end jesse james lowers his head and has a first down another tackle for josh norman at the 38-yard line a pickup of eight jesse james you talk about somebody facing pressure le'veon bell's out martavius bryant's out but they lost heath miller and heath miller did it all for 11 years that's a lot of production to replace jesse james the ex nittany lion out of penn state gets the first crack at it nice work gets his first carry of the night down to the 35-yard line it was interesting talking to ben roethlisberger last night about heath miller said he was the best teammate he's ever had he did it all he could line up at wide receiver make plays under serious fire outstanding blocker you could pull them in the running game he could find linebackers and create holes and he could pass protect and it's hard to find tight ends in this modern world of football that can do all three of those things as well as heath miller did it for 11 years a lot to replace jesse james a lot to prove second and eighth the play big rockets burger has his man brown the ball is out after the catch and washington has it will compton recovers for the redskins the second pittsburgh turnover guess who if you line up antonio brown on the right you're going to see josh norman and norman late on arrival gets that left hand in there and strips antonio brown let's see if he had possession perhaps mike conley is going to take it look at this the ruling on the field is an incomplete pass third down the ruled an incomplete pass now after a conversation among the officials and i think it is incomplete again this year we'll have jerry austin in the booth with us twice the referee in the super bowl game and jerry do you think that was a good call on the incomplete pass well he gets two hands on the ball and brings it in but he does not do something else with the ball and that's the third step of the process and that was not completed so incomplete i believe is the correct call third down and eight time for the redskins to find their pass rush baker 92 ziggy hood inside and preston smith at the bottom of the screen number 94 a young second year player they're counting on in these third and long situations i believe jay gruden might be challenging the call on the field washington is challenging the ruling on the field of incomplete pass and while they take a look at the video we'll take a timeout espn's monday night football is brought to you by nissan and by godaddy.com domains websites 24 7 personal support get yours now at godaddy.com the steelers founded by the legendary art rooney back in 1933 a record six super bowl championships won by the steelers still under the ownership of the rooney family after review the receiver had not established possession and become a runner therefore is an incomplete pass and we third down an eight at the 36 yard line pittsburgh washington will be charged for the first time out well jerry that's what you said how much more did he have to do because he started to make a move he started to turn with his left hip up the field i think you've got to definitively say he made a move and if you can say he made a move then you have a completion he starts to make a move but it's out and that makes it incomplete well pittsburgh has caught a break twice roethlisberger lost the fumble that washington had momentarily and then the steelers got it back and ryan kerrigan couldn't hang on and now this one goes their way as well third down and eight on the edge of field goal range over the middle jesse james work to do didn't get there the ball came out after he hit the ground he's ruled down just a little bit shy of the yard to make and a flag there's no flag on the plate for a late hit as the player was pushed fourth down still on the field for pittsburgh indeed shawn and it looks like mike tomlin is going to go for this fourth and one deangelo williams an outstanding short yardage back expect them to run right behind the castro at right guard castro and all pro the play fake and the throw to the end zone for antonio brown touchdown pittsburgh what a call by todd haley a predictable man-to-man situation they set antonio brown up away from josh norman and they go after brashad breeland for six gutty call great throw and great play they have a tendency to run right behind the castro at right guard in short yardage situations but the steelers knew josh norman was going to be on the left so they positioned brown against breeland rockelsberger pulls the ball out of deangelo's chest and rips it and now chris boswell for the extra point that gives pittsburgh his first lead in the night on the first touchdown of the game you throw an interception to a young receiver on one series the veteran quarterback put the wheels back on the wagon and finds his veteran pro bowler proud to take the lead the future hall of famer ben roethlisberger with another milestone that touchdown pass to antonio brown the 273rd of his career tying to great joe montana for 13th all time ben's gone over 43 000 career passing yards tonight he passed dan fouts on the all-time yardage list for 12 ball time chris boswell kicks off and chris thompson will not bring it out i'm not sure this wasn't a running play i think they want to run the ball at fourth and one and they have one of these rpos it's a loaded box they want to run the ball to d'angelo williams you see all the redskins up in the hole and big ben flashes a hand signal to antonio brown what a play by those two pittsburgh steelers ropplesberger seems to get better with time let's see if washington can respond in it a lot of adversity call went against them fourth and one pittsburgh takes the lead let's see what kirk cousins is made up goes on a quick count on first and ten from the 25 looking deep and has his man deshawn jackson into pittsburgh territory at the 45-yard line with the safety mike mitchell making the tackle and jay gruden uses a speed break they come out of the huddle fast before pittsburgh is ready and if deshawn jackson gets a free release look out 29 yard game they're moving the ball now to the 42-yard line of pittsburgh seems like jackson came to training camp much more focused injury-free added some muscle and i think competing with josh norman on a daily basis has elevated jackson who's in a contract here we spotted the ball it's now a 33-yard game for jackson and a time-out called by the redskins sean jackson big play for washington 9 17 to go in the first half pittsburgh leading 7-6 with the redskins for the fourth time of the game in pittsburgh territory running room for matt jones and he's banged down with a flag down to the offensive backfield jones down with an eight-yard gain if it stands holding offense number 85 10-yard penalty replay first down big penalty on vernon davis negates that run redskins were in the red zone on the previous series they had a false start let's take a look at vernon davis that's clearly a tackle right there on a little wham play you bring a tight end in to block one of these defensive tackles and that was a pretty easy call to make first year back home with the redskins for vernon davis who went to high school with dunbar in the district of columbia played at the university of maryland looks like the left tackles moving early trent williams and they do stop the play fall start offense number 71. five-yard penalty still first down you want to use all these dummy snap counts and try to read the deployment of the steelers and sometimes these offensive linemen are in their stance a long time and that's back-to-back careless penalties and jay gruden not happy at all i've seen that look before that you have and he's seen the chucky face more than just about anybody else i would guess five receivers for cousins on first and 25 short over the middle for jameson crowder you had a terrific rookie season last year with 59 catches most ever by a redskins rookie that played good for 9. crowder doesn't get the attention that he deserves he's overshadowed by deshaun jackson pierre garcon jordan reed but young man can return punts return kickoffs he's tough he's reliable great future ahead of himself crowder second year man out of duke rooney thought he might be just the returner last year but he earned much more playing time than that chris thompson spun down back at the 43 by ryan chazier and in these long yardage situations the steelers have been playing a lot of zone coverage forcing cousins to throw the ball underneath keep an eye on jordan reed number 86 he's gone quiet here in the second quarter but against these zone defenses usually it's jordan reed the primary target four possessions for washington all have gotten into pittsburgh territory but they keep bogging down and they convert on third and ten time for cousins work to do after the catch for reed he won't get there swarmed under he'll mark him down at the 38 yard line well pittsburgh heard me sean they knew that ball was going to go underneath because they were playing a loose zone coverage and reed is shaken up a little bit now back on his feet lawrence timmons the tackle and the decision for jay gruden the offense still on the field with fourth and sixth the about a 56-yard field goal from here will they snap it or they try to get them offside they snap it cousins surveys the catch made by thompson but he appears to be short of the first down we await the spot it was driven back by timmins chazier and goldens and from our advantage when it looked like he got a good spot but perhaps not good enough to get the first down the nose of the football shy of the yellow line take a look at it golden 21 with help from the underneath coverage i think this is going to be inches short well short and pittsburgh will take over on down sean mcdonough john gruden back in washington dc the steelers the formation they like a lot bunch right we saw them use it to great effect a little bit earlier they like to put these three receivers tight on one side of the formation and run the football they like to run behind right guard david the castro but if they ever single up antonio brown roethlisberger can hand signal abort the handoff and go deep to his best receiver and that's just what he did they have a lot of hand signals and a lot of great unspoken communication as well to roethlisberger and brown on the draw deangelo williams nifty run out to be 38 for a gain of five mason foster to stop well here it is shawn bunch right and the redskins load the box the running play has no chance roethlisberger recognizes it he communicates it and he executes it and when you can do those three things at a high level you got a chance to win titles that's why rocklesburger is always in the money on second and five out of the gun underneath jesse james got submarine near the first down marker by deangelo hall the 13-year veteran now the virginia tech made the transition from corner to safety a year ago you know you're not allowed to tackle high anymore here's the angelo hall recognizing it all the way and credit the 13-year veteran who made a lot of plays as a corner to make this adjustment late in his career i saw charles woodson do it i've seen rod woodson ronnie lott a lot of players have done it they think hall has a home at free safety and they need his play making skills roethlisberger in brown with verbal communication this time they measure and the steelers are inches short of the first down and we saw on that touchdown play out a bunch right john brown was matched up with rashad breeland to go back to the point you made at the top of the telecast the redskins are going to keep their corners left and right with norman on the defensive left and breeland on the right and a lot of teams do this the great richard sherman doesn't flip sides in seattle a lot of corners stay left and right and you see brown or excuse me norman at the top of the screen once again on the left side of the defense they motion brown back into the backfield and they hand it off inside to deangelo williams for a first down let's take a look at the matchup that we have had when you have seen brown and norman hasn't been often but most of the time you've seen norman covering the flat not a lot of real action except for this post pattern that was reviewed in the steelers favor and i don't blame pittsburgh for working the other way deangelo williams across midfield and taken down by the shot breeland two yards short of the line to make an eight-yard gain ziggy hood also in on the play for washington i like the right side of the steeler offensive line castro and gilbert two men that have played at a high level for a while and look at gilbert's left elbow he's got a hyper extended elbow he hurt that against the saints not a 100 percent tough guy athletic he said he's going to try to fight through it for the whole year eventually might require surgery deangelo williams trying to cross the formation taken down near the line of scrimmage by preston smith then it'll be a third down in a yard for pittsburgh under four minutes to go in the half and the steelers leading seven to six and here comes the big people once again 82 tight end david johnson let's see if they set up another running formation and antonio brown at the bottom of the screen once again looking for one-on-one coverage against prashad breeland i think rocklesburger is lighting up like a christmas tree it shows the confidence joe barry the coordinator for washington has in breland leaving him out there on an island they'll run it this time against that loaded box and williams almost broke free he did get the first down with a couple of extra yards tackled by david bruton and mike tomlin knows they were very close to breaking that for a touchdown that's two short yardage conversions by deangelo williams right off the right side it's 66 to castro at the point of attack there's not a lot there but one of the great traffic runners in the nfl the 33 year old deangelo williams getting it done 38 yards rushing for deangelo williams in his 11th year the oldest running back in the league at 33. eli rogers inside the 40 and down at the 38 will compton with late help from mason foster on the tackle got to admire pro football players that step up when they get their opportunity and last year d'angelo williams did just that and all the adversity surrounding le'veon bell that's a lot of production to replace and when you can get this kind of performance that's awesome great work by williams two-minute warning season debut of monday night football from landover maryland after we're finished here in the nation's capital our season opening monday night football doubleheader continues on the west coast the san francisco 49ers hosting the los angeles rams catch all the action right here on espn and of course it's streaming live on watch espn chris berman steve young lindsey zarniak will have the call for you two-minute warning of the opening half then roethlisberger and the steelers leading 7-6 and looking at second and five at the washington 38-yard line screen and williams dropped the ball chris baker had pressure forced a high lob throw from roethlisberger that's what happens when i praise somebody sean usually they turn around and mishandle a throw it's a high ball away from his body but williams should love it third down bottom of the screen villanueva at left tackle kerrigan got home against villanueva for a sack early let's see if kerrigan the best pass rusher of the redskins can get it done steelers four out of six on third down the late hand signal with a snap on one and the quick hitter again the hand signals used a great effect deangelo williams as he have the first down doesn't look like it from here sua cravens and the signal is fourth down they won't even measure and when you have ben roethlisberger at quarterback and you're mike tomlin don't even think about it bunch right isolate antonio brown at the bottom of the screen same situation and this time they dump it over the middle to eli rogers what a call and great execution for a first down to the 15-yard line and ben wants a time-out they have plenty of time with a minute and 11 to go in all of their timeouts i believe these are running plays and they see the loaded box and ben roethlisberger pulls the ball out of williams chest that time he decided not to throw it to antonio brown he popped it to eli rogers for a huge first down gutsy calls by mike tomlin two fourth and one calls and put pittsburgh on the brink of taking a eight point lead not sure those coaches like the timeout call though john plenty of time left i mean over a minute ago and they had all of their timeouts left before ben used one well they load the box and they're just gonna pull the ball out of the back stomach and pop it through a slot receiver these are running plays i believe with built-in pass options and they put ben roethlisberger in control why wouldn't you future hall of famer at his best has the steelers on the move two for two on fourth down tonight the steelers five for five on third and one or fourth and one tonight antonio brown shifts to the right let's can seem confused on defense rogers is open and ducks down inside the nine yard line with sua cravens nearby and now no hurry for ben roethlisberger with a minute to go in the half of anything they don't want to leave washington anytime just watch him work he's in a no-huddle offense and he's using as much time as he needs to see the match-ups that he wants around one-on-one with breeland but the safety is creeping over and comes to help so ben throws for james and it's batted down and incomplete great play by bruton the ex-denver bronco brewton you said it earlier was a special teams player for the broncos that time the veteran safety makes a beautiful play setting up a third down and four keep an eye on antonio brown at the bottom of the screen they have featured him to their left to stay away from josh norman and once again it's breathing alone foster the guard turns towards roethlisberger to let him know let the line know that ben's ready for the snap james juggled it but caught it and has a first down inside the five 30 seconds to go 31 and the clock stopped by pittsburgh that's amazing that he can get rid of the ball that quickly from the shotgun no laces just catch it flip it to your tight end he saw it was a zone defense and that's like a point guard in the nba sean you just catch it release it let somebody else make a play coming up in just a matter of moments on the toyota halftime susie callbert randy moth charles woodson matt hasselbeck trent dilfer break down the first half and we'll have a preview of the rams 49ers game the second half of our monday night football doubleheader frustrating half for jay gruden his offense has moved up and down the field they've had a couple of near turnovers now the 14th play of this pittsburgh drive first and goal from the three quick pass deflected and caught by rogers on the ricochet it hit sammy coats and then wound up with eli rogers his first nfl touchdown what a way to get your first nfl touchdown rocklesburger jams this ball in a crowd jay gruden all the crooded family can't believe it this ball bounces right off phillips hands it hits sammy coats it ricochets right into eli rogers hands i'd keep that ball if i was rogers that's amazing what a frustrating half it's been for jake rudin and the redskins and it continues on that play another near turnover that winds up a touchdown 14-play drive in the lead now 14-6 for the steel what a debut for eli rogers sat out all of last year with a foot injury mike thomas said he would have made the active roster last year as an undrafted free agent that had not been for the injury six catches and now his first nfl touchdown the young man from miami and the university of louisville 14-6 the lead for pittsburgh with 27 seconds to go in the half chris boswell will kick off to chris thompson and will blackman it's been an up and down night for eli rogers didn't start particularly well the interception by brayland apparently the fault of rogers he said that to ben roethlisberger after the pick but he's a tone for john yeah well the interception was his fault and that should have been an interception but what a way to get your first touchdown i love seeing young players that keep grinding they keep working and some of these young players all they need is an opportunity and a coach that believes in them and that's what rogers has going for him in pittsburgh todd haley sings his praises a lot conservative play chris thompson charges out near a first down redskins with just one timeout left 18 seconds and not in a big hurry matter of fact they're going to take it to the locker room where they spent a lot of the night in pittsburgh territory nearly had three takeaways that didn't wind up in their possession and pittsburgh leads 14-6 at the half pittsburgh gets the ball to begin the second half will join susie calver in the crew for the toyota halftime right after this break opening night for monday night football in this 2016 nfl season delighted to have you with us from landover maryland the pittsburgh steelers leading the washington redskins 14-6 at the half sean mcdonough along with john gruden washington had the edge in play for the first quarter john but then the second quarter pittsburgh really established itself particularly in short yardage situations boy you hear about situational football all the time two minutes red zone and short yardage as the determining factor third and one it's all deangelo williams then it's another third and one they pounded off the right side how about that vision and then it's fourth and one and rondelsberger sees a loaded box and he sees antonio brown all by himself d'angelo hall out of position that's a running play he pulls it out of the back's chest and throws a touchdown pass then on fourth and one again at loaded box he sees brown again one on one but d'angelo hall is deep in the middle so now he pulls it out of williams chest and flips it to eli rogers four huge short yardage conversions two of them on fourth down credit mike tomlin todd haley but once again stellar play by the veteran ben roethlisberger who's doing a nice job wearing washington down in this opening game with the no huddle offense easier to convert in those short yardage situations when you have a lot of weapons at your disposal and you have ben roethlisberger making the decisions you've talked about the perception of him changing through the years great physical talent that's what he was known for early still has that but he has the mind to go with it as well and he'll get the football first dustin hopkins to kick off five kickoffs in this game all of them touchbacks these coaches aren't trying to return the ones that are returnable because they want the ball to 25. here's lisa salters hey sean well i asked mike tomlin about those two fourth down plays especially the fourth and one touchdown throw from ben roethlisberger to eli rogers and he said we practiced those situations all week long those fourth down situations and we knew that if they came up tonight we were going to be as he called it thoughtfully aggressive i specifically asked him if the touchdown throw was the design play or big ben making that decision he said oh no that was the call all the way so he likes what he's seeing so far but he was quick to point out 30 minutes doesn't make a football game sean at least 30 more to go d'angelo williams the lone back and he gets the handoff running left behind the polling guard david the castro and a nice seven yard gain to start the half with will compton the tackler patient runner you see de castro at right guard pull to the point of attack and watch d'angelo wait for de castro follow his pulling guard and he knows how to finish runs great back at memphis did it a long time at carolina and he's doing a nice job tonight left the panthers as their all-time leading rusher play action fake roethlisberger in trouble got away and it's batted down away from d'angelo williams by will compton roethlisberger getting up off the turf got pressured by preston smith preston smith has to make his presence felt in this second half the young man had eight sacks as a rookie last year out of mississippi state came on strong at the end of the season and if washington wins this game preston smith ryan kerrigan have to pick it up in these third down situations and they do it on short yardage again third and three snap it up one the blip from washington antonio brown again with prashad breeland who thought brown pushed off in coverage first down another conversion for pittsburgh now six for nine on third down put brown on the left away from norman and go after breeland clearly the game plan of todd haley and the pittsburgh steelers you can't stop that the quickness of brown and the accuracy of roethlisberger can beat any coverage four catches for brown across midfield with plenty of running room and he got chopped down at the 35-yard line of washington by the safety deangelo hall that's a problem play for the redskins second time they have brought a tight end to cross the formation to kick out ryan carrigan this time it's number 81 jesse james bluffing kerrigan you see johnson 82. block kerrigan and it hits big against williams after 17-yard run gets very little the other way cedric golston david bruton the tackle pittsburgh dominated the second quarter they had eight first downs in the second quarter to one for washington they had the football for 10 minutes and 42 seconds of the second quarter and they're continuing in the third they've really got this running game going after the early interception roethlisberger has mixed it up nicely he's been under the center with a nice running game and he's used some play-action passes to go with the drop back system that he's so good at but they've done a nice job keeping washington off balance under center gerald toussaint took the handoff and fighting for every yard is the michigan wolverine inside the 30 and another team third and short pittsburgh is pounding away at washington and the redskins who've been on defense a lot look tired look at baker 92 golston 64 hands on their hips and on these third down in short situations i think mike tomlin thought haley are in four down territory this is where pittsburgh has been unstoppable tonight in these third and fourth down short yardage situations zips out of nine on third down then they take the play clock all the way down plenty of time for rockless burger low throw is the catch made no jesse james was open and ben didn't get it to him with the sean phillips in coverage for washington then unhappy with himself ball clearly hit the ground james was wide open and i thought they had antonio brown wide open as well ben disappointed with himself there and despite all the success tonight in short yardage they up for the field goal try 46-yarder for chris boswell enjoying the steelers week five of last season had a great year 29 out of 32 and this one is right down the middle in his first attempt of 2016. they got points but roethlisberger frustrated perhaps they left some on the field espn's monday night football is brought to you by courtyard the official hotel of the nfl by gmc we are professional grades and by espnshop.com powered by dick sportinggood after a slow start ben roethlisberger todd haley the coordinator the pittsburgh offensive founder rhythm two touchdowns in the field goal in the last three pittsburgh possessions the kickoff from boswell with a 17-6 lead and another touchback kirk cousins in the redskins offense they've been in pittsburgh territory a lot of the night with little to show for it first possession of the second half for washington got five possessions in the football game the first four all made it to at least the pittsburgh 40-yard line they let the half run out on their final possession of the first half but only two field goal and now a whistle fall start offense number 31 five yard penalty first down that's just bad football too many penalties tonight on this offense and when you're a tailback you can't jump offsides that's inexcusable and when you fall behind in a down and distance you're down by 11 against the pittsburgh steelers good luck sailors have not been penalized for now against washington matt jones again up right and again belted james harrison the ageless linebacker now 38 years old in on a stop for pittsburgh big part of the leadership of this defense he stuffed that play all the way he read draw he read out of it and made a beautiful james harrison old school tackle there's five straight pro bowls washington has rushed for just 27 yards you mentioned at the beginning coach they need to find a back the catch made by jameson crowder james harrison again in on the stop cousins has to be more accurate early in the game low ball to jordan reed got to let these receivers run with it not on the same page lucky it wasn't intercepted mrs crowder on a critical third down in the red zone balls are thrown low behind receivers cousins is going to have to catch fire quickly for washington cousins crowder it winds up with the redskins carson after ryan shazier ripped it out pierre garcon in the right spot and it's a first down for washington out to their 44 yard line that's great hustle to the football bad ball security by crowder shazier strips it that's just good effort by pierre garcon running to the football to set up washington with a big first down hard to believe there's been only one turnover in this game there have been so many close calls when it comes to turnovers again no blitzing from pittsburgh cousins throws an interception two shades here flagged down on the play shazier still running inside the 20. what a run by chazier all the way back to the 10-yard line the flag is back at the other end of the field at the 35-yard line pittsburgh has come in here played a lot of zone defense tests the patience of this offense and chaser with a great play and kirk cousins cannot force that football i think the interception is going to hold but after the interception illegal block in the back intercepting team number 23 that's a 10 yard penalty first down pittsburgh it's a bad decision by kirk cousins in that field position on first down and when you make mistakes in the middle of the field against linebackers like that forget about it second career interception for ryan chazier the long streak has ended that's the first interception here at fedex field for kurt cousins and 253 pass attempts back to week one of last year against the dolphins sean mcvay the offensive coordinator jay gruden the head coach in on that conversation back on the field ben roethlisberger that offense in a room what a catch by brown for a gain of nothing the shot breeland he's been matched up with him primarily all night long right there again well don't fight zoning linebackers you're going to take a look at matt jones number 31 check down he's going to be open shazier drops deep underneath that deep cross you got to pull the ball down and check it to your back and cousins knows way better than that first turnover of the game for washington the penalty against mike mitchell on the return negated a 51-yard run back by chazier to the washington 10 bennett trouble with the snap lost it up caught sammy coats taken out of bounds in territory by d'angelo hall they're going to mark them out at the 33-yard line what a play by roethlisberger it's a bad snap he fields it he has no idea what's going on downfield but he has a presence to pick it up and remember he had greg toler in bump and run coverage with sammy coats that's amazing 42-yard gain first catch of the night for sammy coach second year man out of auburn who had only one catch all of last season as he saw action in six games roethlisberger takes the check down to deangelo williams in this tackle and it winds up as an eight-yard gain as mason foster chase williams across the boundary pittsburgh has washington on the ropes d'angelo williams makes brewton look bad in a one-on-one tackling situation and rocklesburger looking for the knockout punch pressure routers burgers double pass incomplete dropped by williams the pressure from preston smith another play that won't show up on the stat sheet that roethlisberger makes preston smith unblocked and roethlisberger finds the presence to unload it left side of your screen jesse james no match for rockwell's burger and it's a great job keeping it down at distance where it is third and short the very least they're in field goal range for chris boswell third down and three normal washington 26. no pressure brown has it touchdown pittsburgh you're seeing two in the 500 catch for antonio brown and you're seeing two of the very best in the world do what they do best there is a flag down once again is antonio brown lined up to their left away from josh norman and they've isolated breeland a couple times and it's paid off big time what a throwing catch awaiting information about the flag after the touchdown unsports my conduct pittsburgh number 84 that 15-yard penalty will be enforced on the kickoff well putting his experience dancing unfortunately the bad use there he made it to the semifinals of dancing with the stars during the off season said it was an awesome experience apparently he wasn't quite ready to give up the dancing i think the judges would have liked that boswell that's the extra point no levy on bell no heat miller no martavis bryant no problem ben roethlisberger magnificent and the steelers are pulling away and roethlisberger just made history that completion of antonio brown the 500th connection between the two of them sixth catch of the night for brown so ben now has 500 or more completions for three different teammates the others heims ward and heath miller the only quarterback in the history of the nfl to do that peyton manning is the only quarterback who had done it with two different teammates beyond roblox burger manning completed 953 to marvin harrison 779 to reggie wayne with the colts i think i could complete passes to antonio brown you might yeah you're not very good sean but you might be this guy's a great receiver and everybody in the stadium knows where the ball is going and it doesn't matter when you talk to the steelers players and coaches about him it's really the result of the work ethic as much as anything else prolific first he turned kickoff of the night will blackman former boston college eagle brought it back to the 31 before he paid the price shawn davis and shamarco thomas combined on the stop totally moved but they haven't done anything lately with kirk cousins in this offense excuse me sean but don't be surprised if washington just doesn't jump into their two-minute offense they've got to find a way to get cousins in rhythm the steelers have not blitzed they were known for blitzing coming in here but it's been a lot of different zone coverages that have paid off tonight another character but it's worked very well yeah jones trying to get something going on the ground a couple of nice at a 12-yard gain first down here's lisa salters well sean there's a lot of pressure on kirk cousins yes he's making 20 million under the franchise tag but he didn't get the extension that he wanted so he knows he's got to prove himself all over again this season one hit wonder that's the phrase that he brought up to us he says he knows that there are people out there who might be thinking that about him that his success last season leading the league in completion percentage maybe that was a fluke so a lot of pressure on him to do it all over again and prove that he can be the guy here in washington dan snyder the redskins owner they want him to be the man going forward they have faith in belief in him he's on target to desean jackson they talked about the contract extension the off-season they couldn't agree on it and cousins did say he got an amazing raise he made six hundred thousand dollars last year he's making 20 million so no matter how it goes beyond this if you live your life right you're set for life this league is a business kirk knows that everybody knows that he's got to perform to get what he wants and that's what the redskins want you always have to prove himself he said when he went to michigan state for his official visit he didn't have a scholarship offer he had to convince them to give him a scholarship and that worked out well for the spartans and for kirk again deshawn jackson the catch and they're moving again they're back into pittsburgh territory for the fifth time tonight well they've got three tight ends on the field paul vernon davis and jordan reed and you would think this is a running formation but when you split out davis paul jordan reed against the base defense you create some match-up problems here comes the rare pittsburgh blitz tonight they rushed five and this will stop the play a false start against washington penalties have killed the redskins false start offense number 78 five-yard penalty josh excuse me the center corey lichtensteiger let's see if he moved the football it's a point of emphasis the blitz is going to be coming right up the middle and lichtensteiger i think turned that football early and that's been a big point of emphasis watch the ball i don't know what they saw there he must have got out early big penalty in the preseason chris thompson the catch thor failed is physical after coming over from new england the trade got voided lichtensteiger remains the center keep an eye on these underneath defenders shazier 50. timmons 94. the underneath coverage of the steelers they're dropping deep they're forcing the ball underneath and man have they come up and made some beautiful packets cousins caught first down pierre garcon out at the 20-yard line russ cockrell pushed him out look down there i see head coach mike tomlin sean he was the secondary coach when i was coaching in tampa and this defense they're running it looks like our defense we ran in tampa a lot of zone coverage not a lot of blitzing they're forcing the opponent to be patient and self-destruct and that's what's happened tonight with penalties and the interception by cousins mike tomlin a former assistant under my colleague john gruden with the tampa bay buccaneers it's going to be a hold against washington holding offense number 71. 10 yard penalty replay first down and john this has to be tough for you your fingerprints are really all over this game jay obviously is your brother he coached with you on that same staff with mike tomlin jay and mike tomlin are good friends and we met with mike tomlin last night he said to you coach you're supposed to do this game i mean you have a lot of friends you have your son on the redskins sideline as the get back coach but you have a lot of people on both sides tomlin and your brother were young assistants you know 203 when you led the buccaneers to the super bowl win over the oakland raider certainly do i'm proud of those guys mean a lot to me cousins short caught garcon wrestled down by sean davis the rookie out of maryland who grew up right here in washington d.c and has about 25 friends and family members in attendance here tonight that he got tickets for and probably many others who found their own way in but this defense of the steelers has really forced washington to be patient and they've not done a good job of that tonight watch cousins he's had plenty of time to throw the football gonna have to take these underneath completions there's another loose zone coverage his way to the 16-yard line sean davison on the stop again with william gay the 10-year veteran out of louisville pickup of eight we're down under three minutes to go in the third quarter john would you like to see the redskins with a little more urgency in their case i would but it's critical here at the end of the third quarter that they try to make this a two score football game got to get good play selection here go with your go-to call inside the red zone and i think jay gruden's in four down territory looking for their first touchdown of the season only a three-man rush this time all day for cousins and that is way out of bounds in the general direction of jameson crowder wow kirk cousins has to step up and run i mean it's third down and seven it's a three-man rush watch these steelers bail out of there there's nobody gonna be open there's gonna be eight men in coverage you got a clean pocket step up and run for it but don't throw the ball away you got a chance to make something happen with your legs against these three-man rushes and it's gotten the best of him tonight one more time to find the receivers you said he wasn't really pressured but here's dustin hopkins already connected from 31 and 40 and now from 34 yards 301 to go third quarter monday night football from landover maryland her cousin shawn mcveigh sean jackson still searching for answers and trying to find their first touchdown of the night on the washington sideline great protection three-man rush you gotta run try to create something with your legs a scrambled grill but don't throw the ball away and i'm sure jay gruden's saying hey we prepared for the blitz but they're not blitzing they're rushing three guys we gotta use your legs to create some offense and credit to steelers they have come in here with huge blitz tendencies and it played nothing but zone dustin hopkins kicks off it'll be another touchback well coach john gruden surprised some area youth football teams over the weekend he paid a visit to the james lee razorbacks and the annandale bulldogs in falls church virginia saturday afternoon we can report that the razorbacks won the game both teams were winners they got a visit from the legendary coach and television personality and john presented checks to both coaches for two thousand dollars gave a pep talk mingled with the kids man i love these kids to get off the couch and go play football we had a blast big sporting goods the big help huge with our weekly initiative as we go around the country let's surprise somebody next week in chicagoland d'angelo williams out to the 30-yard line d'angelo williams last year five different games he carried the ball 20 or more times and he has a lot to do with me being fired in tampa because he drove me crazy in carolina and now he's down there tormenting my brother shame on you d'angelo what a player he is 66 yards rushing and the baby on bell's a great talent having a hard time getting his act together and there's not much drop off when this guy's in the game you mentioned john as williams gets within two with another first down his prolific career with carolina and at the university of memphis before he tony dorsett and ricky williams are the only players in the history of the nfl in college football who rushed for 6 000 yards in both college and the nfl and again he sets up a short yardage situation where they have dominated the game with roethlisberger williams and the possibility of then pulling it and throwing it under a minute to go third quarter third down and two there's seven for eleven on third down brown can't hang on with the shot breeland closing in quickly that's a huge stop for the defense tricky motion by antonio brown fooled the redskins ben just missed the throw jordan berry to punt just the second time tonight the first was after their first possession when they went three and out davison crowder catches it at his six and he brought it back to the 22 vince williams running down to cover the punt 61-yard punt 16-yard return 19 seconds to go in the quarter that's another area john your brother wants to see improvement punch return they were 31st of the league last year in punt returns and he said crowd is too talented we need to give him more help to bring the ball back they do indeed and let's see if cousins can try to create something against these loose steelers zone coverages credit randall gay cockrell at left corner and here's another one gets it down to matt jones he gets nine banged to the turf by ryan chazier and what might be the last play of the quarter look for a moment like cousins might bring them right up to the line but the quarter's going to end impressive start to the season through three quarters for the pittsburgh steelers on the road on monday night it's a monday night football double header to get the season started coming up next todd gurley in the los angeles rams after 22 years in st louis back in los angeles but on the road tonight in san francisco to take on the 49ers that's coming up next with chris berman steve young and lindsey zarniak on to the fourth quarter here in washington d.c chris thompson and here's the zone coverage that i'm talking about here's a three-man rush look at the eight different steelers fanning the field in zone coverage you gotta find the loose defenders and fight completions here's a case where they have seven in coverage with a four-man rush just check the ball down and that's what cousins just did here to jordan reed but the steelers shawn they're missing senquez golden the corner who's a second rounder artie burns their first round pick a corner out of miami not playing they don't have the coverage people to match up with these receivers keith butler knows it that's why they're playing all this zone coverage and force and cousins to check it down cousin throws good ball his best throw of the night on targets of pierre garcon back into pittsburgh territory at the 37 yard line and keith butler can't be happy with cockrell he's responsible for the flat sink get underneath it don't let them have these chunk plays make them throw the ball underneath 19-yard gain he's going deep again on target and a good catch as james and crowder got belted by mike mitchell but it's a first down and if washington can punch it in the end zone here all of a sudden it's a one score game the staff to it pounded kirk cousins five catches tonight for the second year man out of duke prouder over the middle vernon davis escapes inside the 10 and down to the one-yard line yesterday san diego kansas city game you just run out of gas and pittsburgh do they have enough pass rushes here's vernon davis doing what he did in san francisco taking short passes for big games his first catch has a number 462 of his career first and goal chris thompson with the first touchdown of the night for washington pick up the tempo we talked about it in the pregame fatigue it takes its goal on the defensive lineman as much as anybody because they have to rush the passer repeatedly pound the ball off the right side it's a nice job by thompson bouncing it 4-6 vernon davis showing he can still block at the right end of that line now a very important extra point for hopkins who was 39 out of 40 last year he makes it to be an eight-point game and one score game with 13 minutes to go and you talked about it in the top of the telecast substitution problems there's another one you're not going to get the kickoff this will be a 37-yard extra point and a huge extra point because it makes it a one-possession game jay's looking for ben cottwick of the special teams coach we saw it yesterday you see it all the time early in these regular season games substitution communication fatigue issues late in games with a 38-yard kick now there's a 38-yard kick and it's right down the middle they moved quickly that time needed just two minutes and 18 seconds to go 77 yards espn's monday night football is brought to you by nfl game pass replay every game this season go to nfl.com game pass to start your free trial this franchise founded as the boston braves in 1932 moved to washington in 1937 they won five world championships three super bowl titles joe feisman among the many legends here tonight doug williams is also here on the field before the game tonight sunny jurgensen part of the radio broadcast dustin hopkins kicks off it's gerald tucson the first kickoff of the night by hopkins it wasn't a touchback and brought it out a couple of yards beyond the 25-yard line well let's go back to what we talked about in the pregame with susie and company the issues that coaches are most concerned about in the first game well communication you've seen the redskins struggle with some pre-snap penalties they just had a problem with substitutions and fatigue for both of these defenses is the number one issue tackling it's deteriorating right now and i still think special teams might decided some young players in critical positions crowd back into it after the first redskins touchdown of the night from the 27 ben roethlisberger 21 out of 30 passing tonight with three touchdown pass running out of time just steps up and dumps it off for williams how many times you've seen that over the years it looks like they're going to get them to the ground and they don't come close great pass protection filling the way the left tackle and raffles burger has all day to find a check down josh norman one of the few times we've seen him against antonio brown and looking for the rock four catches tonight for deangelo williams in addition to 70 yards rushing and he gets it on a draw first down and more for pittsburgh he's out of bounds at the 41-yard line chased out by mason foster tough night for rashad breeland and deangelo williams on his draw play cuts it back and you'll see 26 breeland show up on your left side no chance watch roethlisberger in this shotgun work with his left guard ramon foster foster is going to look behind him and see when ben wants the ball and when he does he's going to tap pouncy and let him know when to snap him you just don't know which leg kick it's going to be on watch foster cat bouncy i pouncer to keep his head up because he's calling the line calls and he needs to be looking at the defense and not looking back at ben roethlisberger d'angelo williams carried out to the 45-yard line ben said it took pouncey a long time to get comfortable with that he was used to looking back between his legs at the quarterback so how would you like me to be slapping you while you're working you wouldn't like that either but pouncey's got to look for blitzes he's got to look and survey the defense don't take your eyes off the redskins we'll have foster tap you when we're ready but watch ben lift his heel you just don't know if it's going to be on that first heel or the second rope to jesse james for a first down and that makes sense because if they went ahead and snapped it every time foster tapped for the first time then the defense would know that was coming and would be able to get off the ball quickly and they have so many code words to tell these guys what the snap count is on foster just waiting for big ben brisken's got a blitz seems like he's in total control of this offense the catch by james by the way fifth of the night william dragged down by david bruton he's 33 years old but he looks like the freshest man on the field doesn't matter how old this man is i hope le'veon bell is watching this game le'veon bell i think is the best running back in the nfl i think he is clearly the best when you consider running and receiving and all the things he can do but he's got to get it together off the field but you got to credit williams with 91 yards rushing under 10 minutes to go on second and two deangelo looks like pinball man how about le'veon bell look at what he did in 2014 rushing and receiving how elusive he is in the open field he's got power to run through you le'veon bell on the field is great he's an outstanding receiver and he's a patient runner he can do it all on the field i think he's the best he's a work in progress off the field i hope he gets it all together because he's in a contract here it could be costing himself a lot of money everybody acknowledges the talent tucson down after a loss on the play but right now if you're another team pondering coming after le'veon bell as a free agency you're running the risks through your mind of is he going to have problems in the drug testing program again and i think in this program under mike tomlin one thing i've learned today he's got a lot of young players that he can count on to deliver in some really difficult situations second and thirteen washington a blitz the pass broken up intended for antonio brown matched up with josh norman that time one of the few times we've seen these two in man-to-man one-on-one coverage and i'm surprised that they don't stay on the other side norman versus brown third down and long joe berry the defensive coordinator of the redskins well known as a crunch time blitzer when the game is on the line if we're not getting pressure he'll apply it himself looks like brown told coach you go to the other side i'm gonna go to our left and work on rashad breeland huge play here they're really not in field goal range all kinds of time for russell's burger and there he is coach went to the right side of their formation and he's the man that picks up the first down no reroute at all josh snorman at left corner didn't get his hands on coats there was no reroute actually he shot them but he slipped him so fast the over the top coverage was late in arrival another conversion they've been terrific on third and fourth down all night and now williams breaks a tackle as another first down with a late flag down at the end of the play it stands williams is over 100 yards wrestling tonight offense number 81 10 yard penalty you play first down jesse james the man we talked about earlier he struggled tonight in pass protection that's a big holding call with the game on the line that's the man replacing heath miller one of the great pittsburgh steelers and it sets up first and long and the redskins find the pass rush first and 15. midway through the fourth quarter and they have enough left in the tank to come after ben roethlisberger fake one way in the past to williams and that's well played by mason foster lost back to the 36 yard line on the edge of field goal range now and obviously three points for pittsburgh would be huge here good preparation they're going to fake a screen one way and run a screen back the other way and mason foster number 54 reads it beautifully makes a flush one-on-one tackle and now the steelers on the edge of field goal position four-yard loss on the last play on second and 19. ben pulls it down throws a suck on the run but it's caught by brown well they have gone to work on breeland all night and big ben steps up in the pocket he makes an unbelievable throw i think they're trying to run a speed screen to his right he pulled it down and had the presence to find antonio brown you said they've been working on greenland all night i'm sure a lot of our viewers running why can't norman play the other side of the field why is he really only the left cornerback well there's so many different formations it affects everybody in the secondary sean it's easier said than done they would spend the beginning part of the game king if norman would travel it's williams traveling to the end zone touchdown pittsburgh tackling fatigue in greatness the steelers have some magical players at the right position it's been rocklesburger and antonio brown and a whole bunch of deangelo williams watch the left side of your screen it's a one-back power play good blocking by the wide receiver and once again breeland misses an open field tackle touchdown steelers it goes hand in hand with what you're talking about perhaps fatigue in the first game of the year fourth quarter breeland's been charged with watching antonio brown all day long that was a tired looking attempt at a tackle chris boswell the extra point d'angelo williams a 100 yard game 114 rushing there's a flag on the p-18 offside defense number 24. the kick is good that penalty will be enforced on the kickoff timeout rather the maestro at work again seven minute 13 yard drive deangelo williams at 33 the oldest running back in the league they're full backs holder but at age 33 rushed for 114 yards the oldest to rush for 100 plus in the nfl since fred taylor then with the patriots had a 100 yard gain in 2009. chris boswell kicks off it'll be a touchback the washington ball at the 25-yard line with a lot of work to do on a big night for williams the second half of our monday night football doubleheader lane gabbard will be the starting quarterback for the san francisco 49ers game one for chip kelly as coach of san francisco as they host the los angeles rams in just a few moments here on espn kirk cousins out throwing first down 12-yard gain to deshawn jackson gonna be no huddle offense obviously you see number 54. just checked into the game lj fort trying to get some fresh horses on the field for the steelers we talked to keith butler the defensive coordinator last night he said nobody is in shape at the beginning of the year cousins hit as he throws and no whistle yet it's a live ball l.j port applied the pressure the ball was run into the end zone and no signal of a touchdown either mike mitchell picked up the ball and the officials are going to talk about it lj ford just ran right over chris thompson you mentioned just in for fresh legs incomplete pass that's what you do you got to put some fresh people in the game is that the quarterback's arm is going forward it's an incomplete pass and if you're chris thompson you got to do a lot better job of that one-on-one pass protection he's been primarily a third down back for them because he is a good pass protector not that time good call but credit fork and being held by thompson the russian the fork before storm before oh false start brian chazier out of the game another reason please reset the clock to five minutes 20 seconds false start offense number 77 five yard penalty second down sean lavalle the left guard ninth washington penalty ryan chazier is out of the game is tired he's been all over the field tonight and he's also i'm sure got that sore name they're going to be very careful with him he is a great young linebacker we're told it is a knee issue he obviously did not look to be in any distress the injuries have plagued him in his first two years big job for him staying on the field incomplete pass for jamison crowder with mike mitchell defending well chris thompson is going to have a short career as a third down back this is back-to-back blitz pickups where he gets punished once by fork that time timmons pushes the pocket back into cousin's face undersized third down back early in the season gotta do a better job than that he's 5-8 195 pounds washington three out of eight on third down tonight this is third and 15. four-man rush cousins plenty of time and throws a very short ball reed had no chance to get anywhere near the marker william gay leading the charge defensively and the offense is remaining on the field with under five minutes to go down by 15 and facing fourth down fourth down at 10. just watch the steelers in this zone coverage seven defenders fanning the field deep we're going to force this ball to be thrown underneath just about a much must must-convert situation here for washington cousins chase across the line the scrimmage didn't get the first down knocked out of bounds about two yards short of the marker by arthur moats and the steelers will take over on downs good pressure by stefan tuitt to chase cousins out of the pocket he needed 10 he got eight creative rush plan a blitz a linebacker drop the defensive in play zone coverage and good hustle to the ball by hayward and moats pittsburgh leading by two touchdowns led by roethlisberger's 284 and three touchdowns deangelo williams 114 yards rushing and antonio brown doing what he does over 100 yards receiving here's williams again run defense a weakness last year and they have a long way to go this year pittsburgh after that early interception has run the ball right down their throat 126 yards rushing brown on the sideline for a moment will take the play clock all the way down to three and will pittsburgh washington rather use the timeout yes they will that's the gmc postgame for analysis and breakdown of our game coming up as part of sportscenter that'll be over on espn2 after we're finished with this game of course here on espn will be the rams and the 49ers and john for your brother in the redskins really an important year nine and seven a year ago off of 4-12 they're all important they're all important years but it's a franchise that is trying to find traction and has been doing so for two decades they haven't had back to back winning season since 96 and 97 trying to build off the momentum of a year ago williams again not the start they were hoping for but they were two and four last year and got it turned around time out we'll step aside with 319 to go well we're back in fedex field but you might think you're at heinz field a lot of the redskins fans have left and now it's the pittsburgh fans making their presence known with the terrible towels being waived throughout the stadium 79 124 here tonight roethlisberger another wobbly ball it doesn't matter this is a freak show right here number 84s incredible body control hands it's his conditioning and work ethic competitiveness that separates antonio brown he practices a hundred miles an hour every single day year round this guy's recliner in his house is a treadmill he eats dinner on a roman chair while he's doing abdominal crunches he's the most interesting man in the world i have not seen a guy like this i'm not kidding you since the great jerry rice he's got that type of work ethic williams carries again brown with eight catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns and he's still at the relative beginning or at least in the middle of his career in the seventh year he had 526 receptions through the first six years more than any receiver in the history of the nfl so it's early to start talking about him among the all-time greats but he's doing things no one has done before led the league in receptions two years ago time with julio jones the only player in the history league with two seasons of 125 plus we asked him last night no one's ever had 2 000 yards receiving in a season can you do it he just smiled at us i think he thinks he would have done it last year had roethlisberger not been injured two-minute warning in washington they're getting ready out in the bay area carlos hyde the 49ers going to host the rams rams trying to take that next step jeff fisher said in the pre-season no more 7-9 they become a competitive team now they need to be a playoff contending team second and five to six pittsburgh already leading by 15. deangelo williams this will be easy touchdown pittsburgh that counter play is hard to stop a lot of misdirection and credit the steelers offensive line as well over 150 yards rushing no sacks allowed they dominated the line of scrimmage watch the tight end come in motion and then come back where he came from jesse james to castro you can't block an old-fashioned counter play any better than that but i like looking out there villanueva that left tackle army ranger sean all the publicity surrounding the national anthem over the weekend how about what he stands for and how he played tonight three tours in afghanistan sings every word of the national anthem that he did again tonight the extra point makes it 38-16 john gruden lisa salters back at fedex field where the result is no longer in doubt pittsburgh is going to win on opening night for just the second time in the last six years and washington will lose its season opener for the fourth year in a row boswell's kickoff a touch back here's lisa yeah sean well just three years ago uh two years ago really villanueva was in afghanistan serving his third tour of duty and despite how proud he was of the work that he was doing over there he said he never gave up the dream of playing in the nfl he said they didn't have tvs over there but when the pilots would come once a week to drop off supplies they'd also give the scores of previous nfl games and that's really what guys look forward to hearing every week he said he didn't know how he was going to get back into the game but now that he's here he still thinks about his time overseas he described it to me as the best experience of his life not a good one he said but life-changing he said i remember going there as a boy and i came back as a man now he's the left tackle very impressive man we had a chance to visit with him last night gained 100 pounds i mean out of football for a long time went to philadelphia they tried him out as a defensive lineman he never quit went to pittsburgh kelvin beacham got hurt last year missed 12 games they call on villanueva to be the left tackle and he's still the left tackle cousin's first attempt incomplete for jackson this one's on target to jordan reed 11-yard gain first down washington see josh dots in their first round draft choice at the top of the screen number 18. been hurt all throughout training camp achilles problems are trying to get him involved in this offense that goes all the way back to may he's practiced almost not at all there he is right on cue coach gruden his first career catch out at tcu redskins as we said in the beginning of this show sean they've got to find a running game take pressure off of cousins didn't get it done tonight pittsburgh is a hard team to run against alfred morris left as a free agent numbers have been declining each of the previous four years long ball and a flag down intended for desean jackson with ross cockrell in coverage and jackson when he gets even he's leaving as they say defense number 31 the ball will be placed at the spot of the foul first down ball slightly under thrown and cockrell number 31 clearly got there early jackson has had some big plays tonight good to see him running around like we're a custom scene he's had two receptions of 30 plus and that's a long penalty takes the ball to the nine yard line 46-yard penalty but under a minute to go her cousins and the redskins down by 22. jamison crowder down to the three-yard line golden and gay there one time out left they won't use it cousin's trying to line them up quickly throws it away and pittsburgh just daring kirk cousins to hand the ball off they've got seven eight pittsburgh steelers in the end zone great job by mike tomlin and his coaching staff coming in here tonight with a big win and you said it earlier jay gruden got work to do short week you mentioned the lack of the running game for washington they've tried only 12 running plays tonight compared to what will be 43 passes now that's deflected and almost intercepted or is it intercepted james harrison it's a catch and a touchback and an interception for the 38 year old in his 14th year his eighth career interception batted pass and the story of the night every man hit the ground but apparently it did not thought it was wobbling around on the ground gonna be incomplete but it doesn't really matter it doesn't but it certainly looked like he didn't have possession and it hit the ground and the officials are conferring now under two minutes to go in the half and a change of possession play that's automatically reviewed looks like they're going to let it go apparently they thought he caught it at this juncture i don't think the redskins carried it impressive performance by ben roethlisberger three touchdown passes tonight and old pals gruden and tomlin exchange a hug 375 career touchdown passes now for roethlisberger tied for 12th ball time with vinnie testaverde back with more from washington right after this

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Length: 125min 0sec (7500 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 07 2020