Pittsburgh Steelers defeat San Francisco 49ers, 43-18: Full highlights, final

The 49ers were down big at the time, so it is not surprising he did not go back in the game.

“[Spreading it around is] my favorite part about it”, Roethlisberger said. “We met this week’s challenges”. The leg/knee hit he took could still do so, but we’ll see on Wednesday.

The scariest thing for opposing defenses is that the Steelers are now averaging 32 points per game through two weeks even though they didn’t have Le’Veon Bell, their starting running back who will make his regular season debut in St. Louis next week.

Beckham Jr caught a slant from Eli Manning and sped 67 yards for a score to level things at 10-10 after Falcons rookie Tevin Coleman had opened the scoring with his first National Football League touchdown. “Obviously, with the offense the Steelers have, we have to match the touchdowns – and we didn’t do that today”.

GOING FOR IT: Twice in the first half Pittsburgh opted to attempt a 2-point conversion after touchdowns rather than a traditional one-point kick.

“Offensively, I thought we really kept fighting back and not blinking”, 49ers coach Jim Tomsula said. A week after torching the Minnesota Vikings for 168 rushing yards, Hyde was held to a mere 43 yards on 13 attempts and had a costly fumble. Anquan Boldin brought in the the other Kaepernick touchdown pass in the fourth and had 60 yards receiving on the day. Of course Kap played well, Torrey Smith had 6 receptions for 120 yards and a score.

My Predictions: Although I believe the Steelers will win this game, I’m not so sure they’ll cover the spread and therefore, I’m inclining to go for the 49ers plus the points. To me, it’s frustrating because when we have a punt, we would rather just keep going and give our defense a break. We didn’t get it done.

Steelers linebacker Jarvis Jones said communication was the key to stopping the 49ers.

Bruce Ellington, the 49ers’ No. 3 wide receiver and potential return specialist, said he injured his left ankle on the final play of Thursday’s practice when he pivoted on a route.

“Our calls from last week, we came in with the same type of mentality”, said cornerback Tramaine Brock. “It’s very critical”. And he did it with big plays to Antonio Brown and Darrius Heyward-Bey and a couple two-point conversion throws to Brown and Heath Miller.

In the second half, Pittsburgh scored on two 80-yard drives in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

The Steelers produced 453 yards of total offense, Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdowns, DeAngelo Williams ran for three more and Antonio Brown was again dominant.

Hyde fumbled on the third play of San Francisco’s next drive, and Shazier was right there to recover the mishap at the 49ers 42.

The new-look 49ers defensive, following the retirements of linebackers Patrick Willis and Chris Borland, and the release of end Aldon Smith, seemed overwhelmed. “We’re more of the team from Week 1″.

Williams, who rushed for 77 yards on 20 carries in his second start in place of Bell, tied a franchise record with three rushing touchdowns.

A few days after Mike Tomlin brashly claimed the 49ers secondary wasn’t tested in an opening win over the Minnesota Vikings, the Steelers coach saw his passing attack thoroughly shred that defense.