Steelers’ Highsmith Fixated on Team Failures Despite Personal Breakout

PITTSBURGH — Alex Highsmith will take the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 26-18 win over the New York Giants at home on Monday night.

What the Steelers linebacker isn’t willing to accept, though, is the way his unit was dented in the process.

“There was a lot of things that we could’ve been better at,” said Highsmith, who registered four tackles and two sacks in the victory. “I think that 390-something yards of offense is unacceptable. We’ve just got to clean those things up.”

It the sixth multi-sack game of Highsmith’s career. His six quarterback hits are tied for the most by a Pittsburgh defender in one game since 2000.

The Giants (2-6) had 394 yards of offense, the second-most the Steelers have allowed this season. (They gave up 445 yards in a 20-17 loss to Dallas on Oct. 13). New York went for 157 of its total on the ground. It just couldn’t find the end zone for much of the contest.

“We kind of knew going into the game that they were probably going to do a lot of screens to quell our rush and pressure,” Highsmith said. “They did that. They were effective doing that. Like I said, it was only nine points in the first half, but it felt worse because it was long drives and stuff. … But I think we did a good job making adjustments. There are just little things we’ve got to get better at. Definitely lock down the run game, as well.”

The Giants’ Tyrone Tracy rushed for 145 yards on 20 carries, including a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter, New York’s only touchdown of the night.

Within one possession of Pittsburgh (6-2) late, both of Big Blue’s final two series were halted by turnovers.

“It just shows that we’re resilient,” Highsmith said. “I think we’ve just got to start better because we’ve had a trend this year of starting slow and then really picking it up in the second half. We’ve just got to play more consistent throughout the game and be more detailed. I think it’s a lot of stuff where we’re hurting ourselves. … We’ve just got to lock in on little things.”

T.J. Watt strip-sacked Giants quarterback Daniel Jones in the red zone with just over three minutes left.

“I saw they had the tight end over with me and I saw the 1-on-1 (with T.J.) on the island with that guy,” Highsmith said. “I was like ‘Oh yeah, he’s about to make a play’ — and he did. And he got the ball. That’s just what he does.”

The Steelers’ offense stalled out just past midfield, giving the visitors one more crack at it. Again, New York drove into Steelers territory, but Beanie Bishop’s interception of Jones sealed matters.

No matter the result, Highsmith stressed a need to improve. The Steelers have each of their divisional matchup remaining after their bye week.

“It’s good to have a fast start to the season,” Highsmith said. “We know the schedule we got the back half of the season, so we’ve just got to continue to get better every single day, not get content, not get complacent. The AFC North is waiting on us, some other tough games, as well.