From the notebook of a sportswriter who’s old enough to remember how exciting it was to cover Pitt in 1987 when Ironhead carried the ball 387 times:
• And young enough to have watched his sons become the first brother act to record a sack and a touchdown in the same game for the same NFL team.• I have no doubt that the spirit of Ironhead Heyward - a former Atlanta Falcons FB - was on the side of the Steelers. He’s a Pittsburgh legend.• Yes, the Sons• The best kickoff returner in the NFL was deep for six Steelers kickoffs by a replacement placekicker with a weak leg. Cordarrelle Patterson didn’t get his hands on any of the six.• OK, so Matthew Wright doesn’t exactly have a weak leg. He did bank in another semi-long kick for the second consecutive game.• Wright was 4-for-4, hitting from 46, 46, 48 and 33. That’s 10 in a row since missing two in his first game. I ripped Mike Tomlin after that game for not keeping Nick Sciba, so it appears that Wright responds well to criticism.• Let’s not forget punter Pressley “Don’t call me Percy” Harvin pinning the Falcons back at the 2-yard line with 42 seconds left in a 3-point game.• I must break up Smith’s perfect game by citing Steven Sims for dropping one punt and fair-catching another at his own 10 with no one within 10 yards.• My gut says it’s time to move Gunner Olszewski back there in the ongoing search for a hot punt returner.• I’m getting lost in minutiae. The Spirit of Ironhead is tapping me on the shoulder and telling me to get on with it.• Just don’t hit me with a crutch!• Pitt’s Kenny Pickett continues to improve. Don’t sneer at his ability to manage a win on the road over a team that was only half a game out of first place.• Yes, the Falcons are now 5-8, but the Steelers were on the road off a Monday night road game, a scheduling quirk so rare the Steelers hadn’t done it since 2003 and only twice in the past 44 years. And the Steelers hadn’t won both ends of said scheduling quirk since the 1978 championship season.• It wasn’t an easy win. The Steelers needed more than just a game manager. They needed someone to “pitch backwards,” and Pickett was certainly impressive passing on run downs and running on pass downs.• Left tackle Dan Moore Jr. got his ninth penalty of the season early, but he and the rest of the O-line went on to blow open holes for an impressive Steelers run game.• Speaking of a crutch, the run game has been that for Pickett these last five games. It was the key to Ben Roethlisberger’s magical rookie season in 2004.• The 2004 Steelers finished second (behind the Falcons) in rushing by averaging 154 yards per game (4.0 per carry).• In the last five games, these Steelers are averaging 158 rush yards per game (4.9 per carry).• In their first seven games this season, the Steelers averaged 101 rush yards per game (3.9 per carry).• And, yes, it can turn around that quickly. The 2003 Steelers finished 31st in rushing.• I also appreciate that Matt Canada pays attention to my criticisms. Last week I ripped him for the shotgun handoff on third-and-inches. In three third-and-shorts Sunday, Pickett was under center for all three, and converted three times. Easily.• Power of the media!• Power of the fans is failing to get Canada fired, at least this week. Canada has become a cult hero to the four of us not chanting for a new playcaller.• It’s crazy how much better the play calling looks as a rookie QB gains his confidence. Just crazy.• Defensively, it appears the Steelers’ extensive use of starting nose tackle Montravius Adams in their base 3-4 “talked” the Falcons out of running the ball. In the first half, they ran 6 times and threw 16 times.• They reverted to their true identity in the second half and the run-pass ratio was 22-8, even though they entered the half down 10 and trailed throughout.• The Steelers assumed the Falcons would throw more while trailing, and thus got out of their base and played primarily nickel. That no doubt helped the Falcons compile their impressive rush stats, and almost take the lead.• Another interesting aspect of the respective game plans in Atlanta: The Falcons shadowed Diontae Johnson with shutdown cornerback A.J. Terrell and bracketed George Pickens with two other DBs. The Steelers had game-planned to throw to D.J. and stuck to that plan as he struggled against Terrell with 5 catches among 11 targets.• This, obviously, didn’t sit well with Pickens, who expressed frustration on the sideline in the midst of a 1-catch/2-target day.• This, obviously, is untenable. Double-covered rookie WRs need to look at the scoreboard, not at Antonio Brown theatrics, if they want to raise their persona into the Hines Ward realm.• A fellow Georgia product, Ward is from Atlanta. Although he’s very much alive, I would like to think his spirit prevailed Sunday, too.
