Halicke: Moon 'blessed to be here' after pivotal blocked punt

LAS VEGAS -- With Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig down, somebody needed to step up. Fortunately for the Steelers, Jeremiah Moon came through in a big way, providing a game-shifting play to put away the Raiders, 32-13, Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium.

Leading 12-7 to begin the second half, the defense forced the Raiders to punt on their first possession of the third quarter. And in a game that had been a struggle in the first half, Moon made the necessary impact that would be the catalyst that swung the game into Pittsburgh's favor the rest of the way:

"I'm blessed to be here," Moon said after the game. "I'm blessed to be in this situation. Just tried to take advantage of every rep I get. At the end of the day, the NFL is not for long. I'm just trying to come in and do what I can."

Moon had battled back from being placed on injured reserve at the start of the season due to an ankle injury sustained during the preseason. He was activated ahead of the Steelers' loss to the Cowboys in Week 5, and had to step in and play many more snaps than expected when Nick Herbig went down in game. Moon's performance against Dallas was pretty underwhelming, leaving room for concern that the Steelers would lack a lot of quality opposite of T.J. Watt against the Raiders.

However, Moon turned in a complete performance. He may have recorded only two tackles, but he was far more active on the defensive side of the ball, getting in the backfield a few times. And, when Watt performs the way he did in this game, that's all you need. But, knowing the larger workload was coming surely aided in him being ready to take advantage of each and every rep, whether it was on defense or special teams.

"You get a chance to focus, knowing you're going to be in the game, be in that situation," Moon said.

Moon's blocked punt undoubtedly changed the game. While the offense settled for a field goal on the ensuing possession, the Steelers put up points on four of the next five possessions while the defense fed off the momentum swing and took the ball away on two of the next three Las Vegas possessions. By the time the Raiders found the end zone again, the defense went into prevent mode because the team had taken a 29-7 lead.

This is the type of game Mike Tomlin and the Steelers want to play. It's not always going to be pretty, but when plays can be made in all three phases of the game, it's going to wind up with a notch in the win column more often than not. And, it's even more appreciated by the head coach when players step up when other guys go down.

"I thought it was an awesome game in that we had a lot of guys getting elevated and getting an opportunity to contribute who hadn't," Tomlin said after the game. "I'm just really thankful for their efforts, and just the collective attention to detail that allows that to happen when you've got guys that are being elevated that lack in-game experience, stuff like that. Usually it's a collective in terms of communication and so forth to make sure the day comes off with fluidity."