It wasn’t ideal. But it was better. And that was enough to win.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ struggles on third down have been well documented on this site over the last month. Overall, they finished 6 of 17 in yesterday’s 38-35 win over the Oakland Raiders, still surely far from an acceptable level in the eyes of Mike Tomlin.
But the Steelers moved the sticks in the game’s most crucial moments, going 3 of 5 in the fourth quarter. To be fair, they weren’t terribly difficult conversions – all three came on third and short.