MONARCHS MAKE IT TWO STRAIGHT WITH BIG WIN OVER STEELERS
Rosen looks sharp, leads trio of first half scoring drives
TIGHT END BUCKY HODGES CATCHES THE FIRST OF HIS TWO TOUCHDOWN PASSES
Once again the Monarchs offense looked sharp as the rolled up 434 yards and 42 points in taking down the Steelers at Crump Colisee, improving their preseason record to 2-1.
Josh Rosen played the entire first half and led the Monarchs to 21 points with scores coming on a 4 yard run by himself in the first quarter and touchdown passes to runningback De'Anthony Thomas and tight end Bucky Hodges in the second quarter.
In the first half Pittsburgh scored on a Jalen Samuels run, a 16 yard Ben Roethlisberger pass to Donte Moncrief and a 3 yard pass to rookie tight end Lynn Meeks, making it a tied game at 21-21 at halftime.
After an early interception thrown by A.J. McCarron led to another Roethlisberger to Meeks touchdown pass the Monarchs answered when McCarron connected with receiver Jakeem Grant on a 5 yard score in the third quarter, tying the game back up at 28-28.
London would score twice in the fourth with Trevor Siemian at quarterback, a 2 yard touchdown pass to Hodges, his second, and a 10 yard scramble score by Siemian. Pittsburgh was held scoreless in the fourth quarter, giving London a 42-28 win.
"Offense is clicking." Josh Rosen said after the game. "Doesn't matter who is on the field, seems like we're scoring. Love to see that."
Rosen finished the game an impressive 14 of 17 for 167 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. McCarron was 6 or 11 for 115, a touchdown and an interception and Siemian went 6 for 8 for 67 yards and a score.
On the ground it was Rosen leading the team with 25 yards on 2 carries, including his score. Taysom Hill carried 5 times for 24 yards and Jordan Howard gained 23 yards on a pair of carries.
Tight ends Mike Gesicki and Bradley Blond led the team with 95 and 72 yards respectively, each on 5 receptions. De'Anthony Thomas caught 5 passes as well, picking up 65 yards and a score. Emmanuel Sanders caught 2 passes for 48 yards and DeVante Parker caught a pair for 32 yards. Hodges caught 2 touchdown passes, each from 2 yards out.
Pittsburgh threw for 297 yards and ran for 67.
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and linebacker Jerome Baker each had 5 tackles in the game while P.J. Clay, Charles Harris and Ndamukong Suh each had a sack.
London will pack up and head back to the states to finish their preseason schedule against the Seattle Seahawks.
Scoring
PIT 14 07 07 00
28
LON 07 14 07 14
42
1Q PIT J. Samuels 9 Yd run (C. Boswell kick)
1Q LON J. Rosen 4 Yd run (J. Sanders kick)
1Q PIT D. Moncrief 16 Yd pass from B. Roethlisberger (C. Boswell kick)
2Q LON D. Thomas 8 Yd pass from J. Rosen (J. Brown kick)
2Q PIT L. Meeks 3 Yd pass from B. Roethlisberger (C. Boswell kick)
2Q LON T. Hodges 2 Yd pass from J. Rosen (J. Brown kick)
3Q PIT L. Meeks 4 Yd pass from B. Roethlisberger (C. Boswell kick)
3Q LON J. Grant 5 Yd pass from A. McCarron (J. Brown kick)
4Q LON T. Hodges 2 Yd pass from T. Siemian (J. Brown kick)
4Q LON T. Siemian 10 Yd run (J. Brown kick)
Key Stats
London
Passing: J. Rosen 14/17 167 2TD, A. McCarron 6/11 115 1TD 1Int, T. Siemian 6/8 67 1TD
Rushing: J. Rosen 2/25 1TD, T. Hill 5/24, J. Howard 2/23, M. Gaskin 2/14, T. Siemian 1/10 1TD
Receiving: M. Gesicki 5/95, B. Blond 5/72, D. Thomas 5/65 1TD, E. Sanders 2/48, T. Hodges 2/4 2TD
Tackles: M. Fitzpatrick 5, J. Baker 5
Sacks: P. Clay 1, C. Harris 1, N. Suh 1
Takeaways: N/A
Special Teams: J. Brown 5/5XP, J. Sanders 1/1XP, D. Thomas 81 Ret Yds, T. Hill 47 Ret Yds
Pittsburgh
Passing: B. Roethlisberger 14/19 210 3TD, M. Rudolph 8/12 87
Rushing: J. Samuels 14/54 1TD
Receiving: J. Smith-Schuster 6/134, R. Switzer 4/29, L. Meeks 3/18 2TD, D. Moncrief 1/17 1TD
Tackles: T. Edmunds 8, Q. Diggs 6, R. Shazier 6, J. Haden 6
Sacks: T. Skipper 1, J. Haden 1, O. Adeniyi 1
Takeaways: R. Shazier 1
Special Teams: C. Boswell 4/4XP, J. Berry 2 Punts 66Yds, B. Snell Jr 25 Ret Yds
Media
Next Week
London (2-1) @ Seattle (2-1)