The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 2-1 on Sun day with a hard fought 12-6 road victory over the St. Louis Rams.
But in victory, the Steelers may have ended up the biggest losers as they lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the next 4-6 weeks.
While the Roethlisberger injury painted a dark cloud over the win, there were more than a few bright spots across the field.
Let’s hard out grades.
Quarterback- Roethlisberger was looking fantastic before the injury, completing 20-of-24 pass attempts for 194 yards. He wasn’t able to take shots down the field due to the pressure from the St. Louis front, but he was well on his way to a good day. Once Michael Vick came in, the offense struggled to move the chains. Vick didn’t turn the ball over, but fumbled once and had a sure interception dropped. Grade: B-
Running Backs- Le’Veon Bell returned from a two-game suspension and accumulated 132 yards of total offense, rushing the ball 19 times while catching seven passes. Most of Bell’s damage on the ground was on two carries, but once the Roethlisberger injury the Steelers showed they would lean on him. He did score the game’s only touchdown. Grade: B
Wide Receivers– Antonio Brown was on his way to a huge day and still finished with 11 catches for 108 yards, but most of that production came in the first half. Other than Brown there weren’t many big plays to go around from the other pass catchers. Grade: B
Offensive Line- The Steelers gave up a season high five sacks and for most of the game struggled with the Rams front. That was to be expected. The injury to Roethlisberger makes things look worse, but the guys up front had their hands full. While Kelvin Beachum struggled for most of the game I thought David DeCastro played the best of all of the linemen. Grade: C
Defensive Line- This game was won by the defense and the guys up front did a very good job of stopping the run. Take away a jet sweep that went for 24 yards and the Rams only averaged 2.8 yards per carry from their running backs. Defensive end Stephon Tuitt continues to improve and was a real bright spot with another sack. Grade: B+
Linebackers- There weren’t many splash plays from the Steelers linebackers, but without Ryan Shazier I thought they performed very well. Sean Spence was solid in Shazier’s absence and Lawrence Timmons tied for the team lead with seven tackles. Grade: B
Secondary- Will Allen had a solid game with seven tackles and an interception that sealed the game. Everyone played pretty well as Nick Foles struggled to get the ball down the field, only throwing for 197 yards on the day. Grade: A-
Special Teams- Josh Scobee kicked a pair of field goals and Jordan Berry had a solid day punting, including placing two inside the 20. But they continue to get absolutely nothing from their return units. Grade: C+
Coaching- You have to give the Steelers credit for surviving and getting a win. Keith Butler’s defense came up big when it needed to and Todd Haley’s game plan to counteract the Rams’ pass rush worked early by having Roethlisberger get rid of the football quickly. In year’s past Mike Tomlin’s team would have found a way to give that game away so coming home with a win is big. Grade: B+
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
