It wasn’t pretty, but the Pittsburgh Steelers used a second-half rally to move into sole possession of second place in the AFC North with a 27-24 win over a bad Tennessee Titans team Monday night in Nashville.
There was a lot not to like about the performance, but there was also a lot of good that came from the win.
With that being said, let’s take a look at how the Steelers graded out in my weekly Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card.
Quarterback: It wasn’t Ben Roethlisberger’s best game as he was under pressure, missed a few throws and threw a costly interception, but Roethlisberger helped bring the team back and won the game. His ability to check in and out of plays and getting the Steelers into quick hitters to beat the Titans blitz played a big role. Grade: B-
Running Backs: The Steelers made it a point to get Le’Veon Bell going again right off the bat by handing him the ball on the game’s first six plays. The strategy worked as Bell ran for a career-high 204 yards and made it look easy throughout the night. Grade: A+
Wide Receivers: Antonio Brown had another big game with nine receptions for 91 yards, including the game-winning touchdown, and Heath Miller was involved by hauling in five passes for 71 yards on the night. No one else got involved on the evening. Grade: B
Offensive Line: It was an up and down performance from the guys up front. On one hand the line had problems picking up the Titans’ blitzes and Big Ben was dropped five times, one which the line can’t be faulted for. On the other hand, they dug in and produced a 200-yard rusher. That alone makes it a solid evening. Grade: B
Defensive Line: The Titans didn’t rush for a lot of yards, only 49 yards on 15 carries, but it looked at times like they could have had some success on the ground. Brett Keisel had a solid game applying pressure to Zach Mettenberger, but the rest of the line went unnoticed all night. Cam Heyward was practically invisible for a change and that doesn’t happen often. Grade: C
Linebackers: With a rookie quarterback making only his third career start staring the defense down, there was very little pressure on Mettenberger most of the night; although it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Mettenberger finished with 263 yards and two touchdowns, but more importantly, he wasn’t sacked once. Grade: D
Secondary: William Gay got a gift of a touchdown on the Titans first drive, but was burnt for an 80-yard touchdown near the end of the first half. Gay also slipped on a 36-yard catch-and-run pass to Justin Hunter that set up a touchdown. It wasn’t a great night for the Steelers secondary, but they did produce some points which ultimately proved to be big. Grade: C
Special Teams: Markus Wheaton actually got the ball past the 20-yard line once on a kickoff return. His 32-yard return in the first quarter was the second longest of the season, which speaks to how poor the Steelers return units have been all season. Shaun Suisham knocked through a couple of field goals as the ST units had a positive day for a change. Grade: B-
Coaching: The Steelers problems continue to show up. Red zone problems continue to bother the offense as they mustered only three total points on a pair of 14-play drives in the first half. The same goes for the defense as they were unable to pressure the quarterback again. Add that up and it could have been another loss to another bad team. But they were able to get the ground game going and it paid off with a win. Grade: C+
Photo Credit: Getty Images