The Pittsburgh Steelers let one slip away Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens.
The loss is one that could be felt later on in the season and there is plenty of blame to go around.
With that being said, let’s take a look at how the Steelers graded out on a disappointing Thursday night.
Quarterback- Mike Vick got his first start for the injured Ben Roethlisberger and it went about as well as you could expect it to go. Todd Haley had a conservative game plan for Vick and he should have. On mostly check downs and safe passes, Vick completed 19-of-26 for 124 yards and a touchdown. More importantly he didn’t turn the ball over.
But the Steelers offense struggled in the second half and overtime and Vick, being a veteran in the league didn’t make many plays. I am fine with the game plan being what it was for Vick. I don’t expect him to win games for the Steelers. He isn’t that type of player any longer. I just don’t expect him to lose them. He didn’t do many costly things Thursday night. Grade: C
Running Backs– Le’Veon Bell is going to be the work horse with Roethlisberger out and he did his part against the Ravens, rushing for 129 yards and a touchdown. He wasn’t as big of a part of the passing game as he normally is. DeAngelo Williams only had two carries and didn’t factor much into the loss. Grade: A-
Wide Receivers– Antonio Brown saw his streak of five catches and 50-plus yards come to an end. While that was the most meaningless streak in sports, it shows that the Steelers had troubles getting their best offensive weapon the football. Brown also dropped a touchdown pass. While it may have been a tough catch, it is one he usually makes. Brown didn’t have a reception in the second half and not getting him the ball was a major reason the offense struggled.
Darius Heyward-Bey caught a nine-yard touchdown pass and Sammie Coates made his first career reception, but overall it wasn’t a great night for the receiving crew. Grade: C-
Offensive Line- The line allowed four sacks and took a couple of penalties but a few of the sacks were coverage sacks. Bell averaged 5.9 yards per carry so that is saying something. Grade: C+
Defensive Line- Stephon Tuitt had another sack and Cam Heyward made a great hustle play forcing a Joe Flacco fumble on the sidelines. But the Ravens chewed the Steelers up for 191 yards on the ground, including 150 from Justin Forsett, who was struggling big time coming into the game. Grade: C
Linebackers– The Steelers applied a lot of pressure on Flacco, who was sacked five times. I felt Sean Spence played a good game with a sack and a big stop on a fake field goal. Lawrence Timmons looked healthy and was all over the field with 11 tackles. Grade: B-
Secondary- Shockingly Flacco didn’t test the Steelers secondary down the field. Some of that was due to the pressure the Steelers were getting. Ross Cockrell had a big game with an interception and a fumble recovery. Overall Flacco threw for only 189 yards. Grade: B
Special Teams– Josh Scobee kicked two field goals and Brown averaged 17 yards on three punt returns. Those were the positives. A pair of Scobee shanks in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference though. Grade: F
Coaching- The offensive game plan for Vick was fine, especially on a short week. But the play calls on two fourth down plays in overtime were head scratchers. How Bell doesn’t touch the ball on one, if not both of the plays, is beyond puzzling. More importantly, I know Scobee missed twice, but you have to try and win the game in overtime. While he is struggling, Scobee is a guy who has performed for years. You do your team a disservice by not trying to win the football game.
Defensively they came up with two turnovers, five sacks and a big fourth-down stop in the fourth quarter. But they got tore up by the Ravens rushing attack and had no answers. Grade: D
Photo Credit: FOX Sports
