Pittsburgh Steelers vs Washington Commanders Match Player Stats On Sep 12, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Sep 12, 2016

LANDOVER, Md. -- Ben Roethlisberger threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, DeAngelo Williams ran for 143 yards and two scores, and the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Washington Redskins 38-16 Monday night at FedEx Field.

Wide receiver Antonio Brown caught eight passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns for Pittsburgh (1-0). Roethlisberger hit on 27 of 37 passes with one interception.

Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 30 of 43 passes for 329 yards. He threw two interceptions and saw his streak of 16 straight regular-season games with a touchdown pass snapped.

DeSean Jackson had six catches for 102 yards for Washington (0-1).

With the Redskins trailing 24-9 at the start of the fourth quarter, Cousins completed all five of this throws and led Washington 77 yards in just 2:18. Chris Thompson scored from the 1 for his first career rushing touchdown with 13:01 left to play, making 24-16.

However, Roethlisberger directed a 13-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that took 7:13 off the clock. He found Brown for 21 yards to the Washington 15, and on the next play, Williams ran left, split two would-be tacklers and raced in for the touchdown to push the lead to 31-16.

Midway through the third quarter, Cousins' first home interception at Fed Ex Field in 253 pass attempts was quickly turned into Pittsburgh points.

On second-and-10, Roethlisberger fumbled the snap, picked the ball up and heaved it down the left sideline where Sammie Coates hauled it in for a 42-yard gain. Three plays later, Brown made a nice over-the-shoulder catch on fade route for a 26-yard touchdown, and the Steelers lead was 24-6 with 7:01 left in the third quarter.

A 31-yard catch-and-run by Jackson set the Redskins up at the Pittsburgh 38 early in the game. Washington drove inside the 15 before having to settle for a 31-yard Dustin Hopkins field goal.

The Redskins fared no better after Bashaud Breeland's interception gave them a first down on the Steelers 37, with Hopkins connecting again, this time from 40 yards out to make it 6-0.

The second quarter became a tale of fourth-down success and failure that ended with Pittsburgh ahead 14-6.

First, the Steelers got a huge break after Washington linebacker Ryan Kerrigan broke through and forced a Roethlisberger fumble. Instead of falling on the ball, Kerrigan tried to pick it up, lost it and the Steelers retained possession on their 13.

From there Pittsburgh drove to fourth-and-1 the Washington 29 and went for it. Roethlisberger lofted a pass down the left sideline, and Brown, covered by Breeland with DeAngelo Hall closing, went up and got it for the touchdown.

The Redskins, behind a 33-yard, Cousins-to-Jackson connection, drove into Steelers territory again, but on fourth-and-6, Cousins' pass to Thompson was only good for 5 yards.

With 6:19 left in the half, Pittsburgh mixed runs by Williams with Roethlisberger throws to Brown and Eli Rogers to get the inside the Washington 10. Included was a 19-yard completion to Rogers on fourth-and-1 from the Washington 34.

The Steelers capped the drive when Roethlisberger's pass intended for Coates on a slant deflected in the end zone to Rogers for a 3-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left in the half.

NOTES: Washington WR Pierre Garcon started his 100th career game. ... The Redskins' first-round draft pick, WR Josh Doctson, played after being listed as questionable due to an Achilles tendon injury. ... Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger crossed the 43,000-yard plateau for his career with a first-quarter completion. Later in the half, he surpassed Dan Fouts (43,040) for the 12th-most passing yards in NFL history. ... Redskins coach Jay Gruden and two members of his staff worked with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Jon Gruden.