Post-Washington thoughts

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And to think, there were people who actually thought this would be a close game.

The Steelers set the tone defensively in this one on their first series.

The Redskins ran a reverse at James Harrison and Brett Keisel for nine yards on first down. They then ran Alfred Morris at them again on second and third downs. Result? Minus three yards and a punt.

Harrison continually manhandled the tight ends the Redskins kept running at him, sealing the edge on play after play.

So much for him having lost something.

Harrison is playing his way back into game shape and is starting to get there.

@ The Steelers are now 14-1 against rookie quarterbacks since Dick LeBeau became defensive coordinator in 2004.

Rookie quarterbacks are, after all, still rookie quarterbacks.

Not that Robert Griffin III played poorly, but he wasn't great, either. Yes, his receivers dropped a bunch of passes, but Griffin - I refuse to refer to him as Griffin III as the press box announcer did Sunday - also had just eight yards rushing on six carries.

The Steelers kept him in the pocket for the most part and limited his big plays.

@ Morris, by the way, came into the game second in the NFL in rushing and left with 59 yards.

He was more effective running the ball than Griffin, but also got stopped - like in the first quarter - as often as he ripped off a 10-yard run. And he had a few of those.

@ Todd Haley continues to come up with new wrinkles in his offense. Sunday, it was a fake bubble screen that allowed Heath Miller to slip downfield for a 25-yard gain.

It was well designed and future opponents are going to have to take a look at that before they jump up to bite on those bubble screens.

@ Haley is also doing exactly what was asked of him when he was hired - keeping Ben Roethlisberger upright.

In fact, after being sacked five times in the opener at Denver, Roethlisberger has been sacked just eight times in the past six games, a span of 228 passes.

When did you ever think you'd see Roethlisberger sacked once every 25 pass attempts?

And this is with pretty much the same group of guys the Steelers have been getting things done with the past few years, you know, the guys who couldn't block a toilet.

Goes to show that a different offense can lead to different results.

Of course, the Steelers head to New York to face the Giants this week, so that line will be tested greatly.

@ Speaking of Haley and Roethlisberger, the Steelers had three TD passes Sunday, two to tight ends, one to a fullback.

That was a season's worth of TD passes to those positions under Bruce Arians.

@ In their past 12 home games, the Steelers are 11-1 and have given up 126 points.