The Pittsburgh Steelers may be hitting their stride at the right time, coming away with a big 27-20 victory against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, in Atlanta.
There was a lot to like about the Steelers performance as they inched closer to a playoff spot with 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– Ben Roethlisberger didn’t throw a touchdown pass, but more importantly didn’t throw an interception. Roethlisberger put together a very efficient afternoon and moved the chains regularly. He completed 27–of-35 pass attempts for 360 yards and a quarterback rating of 109.2. All in all a very solid day for Big Ben. Grade: A
Running Backs- Le’Veon Bell found the end zone twice on the ground, but the Falcons were committed to not allowing the Steelers to run up the middle and Bell gained only 47 yards on 20 carries. As usual though he did make an impact catching the ball out of the backfield with five receptions for an additional 72 yards. Grade: B-
Wide Receivers- Antonio Brown broke Hines Ward’s franchise mark for catches in a season and put together another big day with 10 receptions for 123 yards, including a big one down the sideline at the end of the second quarter to set up a touchdown. Heath Miller and Martavis Bryant made some big plays when needed and even Markus Wheaton had a nice afternoon, hauling in five passes. Grade: A-
Offensive Line- Roethlisberger was sacked only once, but the Steelers averaged only two yards per carry, which turns out to be their lowest mark of the season. Grade: C
Defensive Line- I thought Cam Heyward had a nice showing, especially in the third quarter where he was very disruptive. Atlanta did have some success on the ground though as Steven Jackson averaged 4.2 yards per carry and Devonta Freeman averaged 5.1. Atlanta rushed for 97 yards on 20 carries as a team, but some of that came on scrambles from quarterback Matt Ryan. Grade C+
Linebackers- The Steelers once again went without a sack, although Jason Worilds should have had one. It was a bad call, but that is beside the point as they just can’t get pressure on the quarterback. The outside linebacker combo of Worilds, Jarvis Jones and Arthur Moats, combined to produce one tackle. I did like what I saw from Vince Williams and Sean Spence at times. Grade: C+
Secondary- William Gay returned an interception for a touchdown, which ultimately proved to be big. Ryan ended up throwing for 310 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both against Antwon Blake. The Steelers also gave up two more pass plays over 40 yards in this one, all without Julio Jones in the lineup. Grade C+
Special Teams- They produced a couple of Shaun Suisham field goals and Brad Wing had a nice day punting the ball. Brown had his best punt return since Week 1 and all in all they kept Devin Hester from hurting them, allowing only one big kickoff return. Grade: B
Coaching-For all the heat that Mike Tomlin gets for losing to bad teams, this was a game that he usually loses. Give Tomlin and the staff credit for winning a game against a bad team on the road, a game they needed to win. It might not have been the prettiest of wins, but it was a win nonetheless. Grade: A
Photo Credit: Getty Images
