The Pittsburgh Steelers can’t rush the passer. James Harrison, who is 38 years old, led the team in sacks — and he had only five. All year, they’ve struggled to get after the quarterback, having to manufacture pressure with all kinds of fancy blitzes and stunts. If you don’t have a guy who can just beat his man one-on — HOLY SHIT, HERE COMES BUD DUPREE:
Somehow, Matt Moore left the game for only one play after being knocked back into a time when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. Now, it’s, uh, tough to understand how Moore wasn’t concussed after getting run over by the convoy from Mad Max, but he went through concussion protocol and then completed his first pass upon re-entry. Here’s where the NFL’s priorities stand: Dupree was flagged for roughing the passer, but … the Dolphins ended up with a first-and-25 after Jay Ajayi was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after protesting the hit. Based on the penalty calculus, getting upset that a quarterback was almost decapitated is worse than almost decapitating a quarterback.
Somewhat incredibly, Moore finished the game — a 30–12 loss — with 29 completions on 36 attempts, one touchdown, and one interception. Sure, he also had two fumbles, but I only watched Moore get hit, and I’m not going to be able to get out of bed for at least a week — let alone play a somewhat-competent football game.
As for Dupree, the 2015 first-round pick missed the first nine games of the year after undergoing surgery to fix a core-muscle tear in September, but he had 4.5 sacks over the final seven games. The pass rush looked fierce while registering five sacks on Sunday, but the Steelers haven’t had a player hit double-digit sacks since 2010. Dupree seemed like he was trying to change that on just one play.