It’s been more than a half a century since the Green Bay Packers have won in Pittsburgh.
That statistic still stands thanks to some late-game interceptions by Steelers defenders and a blocked extra point that loomed large toward the end of the game, according to Bill Huber, Packers beat writer for Sports Illustrated.
The Steelers continued their 53-year domination on home turf against the team from Green Bay, topping the Packers 23-19.
In the final minutes, quarterback Jordan Love had an opportunity to elevate his team to victory. For the fourth time this year, he failed, Huber wrote. Instead, Love threw two interceptions.
“It’s very frustrating,” Love said, according to Rob Reischel, Packers writer for Forbes. “We’ve been put in this situation a lot of times, and we have not found a way to win it. So, yeah, it is frustrating but we’ve just got to find a way, dig deeper.”
A story of the Packers season…GB trying to make a late comeback in a close game, only for a Love pass to get intercepted in the endzone.
They'll still have some time in this one, with 3:20 remaining and all 3 timeouts. But that was probably their best shot.
— Kassidy Hill (@KassidyGHill) November 12, 2023
Several sports writers compared Love’s growing pains to that of former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ in 2008. This season is Love’s first as a starter.
Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Kassidy Hill noted the number of missed tackles Packers defenders had on the Steelers first two drives, both of which resulted in touchdowns. Like the Steelers, the Packers also scored on their first drive — a first for the team since Week 1, she reported.
More sports
• First Call: Steelers are early underdogs in Cleveland; Josh Dobbs does it again
• Feats of Strength: Patrick Peterson’s big plays, resurgent run game overcome Steelers’ shortcomings vs. Packers
• Jaylen Warren passes 100 rushing yards, teams with Najee Harris to surpass 200 in Steelers win
The Steelers led 17-7 at the end of the first half.
“We started a little slow on defense and then you start figuring out after the first quarter,” defensive lineman Kenny Clark said, according to Reischel. “With a good team like that, you can’t start off slow.
You could legitimately drive a truck through some of the holes that these Steelers backs are running through.
— Jacob Westendorf (@JacobWestendorf) November 12, 2023
Reischel gave a thumbs up to Love’s play outside of the two late-game turnovers. The quarterback completed 21 of 40 throws for 289 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“For most of the day, though, Love was precise and made good decisions,” Reischel wrote. “The ending just wasn’t what Love or the Packers wanted.”
But the Packers’ defense was bad, he said, allowing the Steelers to run for 205 yards on 36 carries. Before the game, the Steelers had averaged just 90.5 yards rushing.
So the two worst first-half offenses in the NFL each go down and score an opening-drive TD.
Just what we thought from Packers-Steelers.
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) November 12, 2023
“A lot of missed tackles,” head coach Matt LaFleur said, according to Reischel. “We knew they were going to try to run the football, and they did it better than we did. They went out there and executed better than we did. We had a lot of calls designed to stop the run, and they were still gashing us.”
Sports Illustrated’s Jacob Westendorf wrote that some aspects of the game just didn’t go the Packers’ way. But there was one part of the play he gave a failing grade: the Packers rush defense.
The Packers struggled against other teams that run the ball well earlier in the season. But the Steelers don’t, Westendorf said.
