The 2013 season was a roller coaster ride for the Pittsburgh Steelers to say the least.
An 0-4 start to the season dug Mike Tomlin’s team a huge hole and after a blowout loss to the New England patriots left the Steelers at 2-6, they were all but left for dead. However a 6-2 finish to the season restored some pride in this team as they came very close to returning to the postseason.
But at the end of the day, this is a team that has finished 8-8 for the second consecutive season, missing the playoffs on both occasions. Nothing screams mediocrity like the past two Steelers seasons.
While there were some good things along the way, this team still ranked only 20th in the NFL in offense and only 13th in defense.
However while it was without a doubt a disappointing season, the end to this season was much different from the prior 8-8 team. While that team collapsed down the stretch, this team played its best football of the year.
That alone should give Steelers fans a bit of hope heading into the 2014 season.
With that being said, it’s time to hand out my year end grades for the 2013 Steelers.
Quarterback: It was a slow start for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as he was under a ton of pressure early on in the season and tried to force the issue a lot as the Steelers were often playing from behind and the mistakes piled up. But at the end of the day Big Ben put together one of his best seasons as a pro and became the undisputed leader of this team. Working with a young offense all around, Roethlisberger had more input in the offense than ever before and once offensive coordinator Todd Haley gave him the keys to the car and took the handcuffs off, this offense took off.
More importantly he stayed healthy and was able to start and finish all 16 games.
His 4,261 yards, 64.2 completion percentage and 28 touchdowns to 14 interceptions were outstanding numbers. He looked as comfortable in the offense as he has ever been and at the end of the day this Steelers team would have been a one or two win team without him. Sometimes Steelers’ fans don’t know how good they have it in Big Ben. He’s only 31 years old and if the last eight weeks of the season are any indication, 2014 could be a huge year for Roethlisberger as well. Grade: A-
Running Backs: It was a shame that the Steelers had to start the season without rookie Le’Veon Bell as he really came on nicely by seasons end. Bell showed a great mix of mix of power and quickness and by the end of the year fully established himself as the Steelers featured back. He also was a threat out of the backfield as a receiver as well, hauling in 45 passes.
Bell’s 860 rushing yards on the season and 1,259 yards in 13 games put him among the top in the league in total offense and set the Steelers all-purpose yardage record for rookies. But at the end of the day this team only finished 27th in the NFL in rushing. That has to be taken into account even though Bell’s future looks really bright. Grade: C+
Wide Receivers: Antonio Brown answered the question heading into the season of if the Steelers would miss Mike Wallace, as Brown emerged as Roethlisberger’s go-to guy all season long. His numbers were simply amazing with 110 receptions, 1,499 yards and eight touchdowns. Brown set records along the way and it will be interesting to see what type of year he has in 2014.
In addition to Brown, Jerricho Cotchery put together a very nice season and became a red zone target with 10 touchdowns on the year. Emmanuel Sanders did some nice things but still struggles with consistency and Heath Miller never really got into a groove after returning from ACL surgery. Youngsters Markus Wheaton and Derek Moye were non-factors all season. Grade: B+
Offensive Line: Injuries hurt this offensive line from the very first drive of the season. Losing a guy like Maurkice Pouncey is never easy. Afterwards the Steelers struggled for weeks. Mike Adams was terrible at left tackle, prompting him to be benched after four weeks. But as bad as this Steelers line was through eight weeks, they played that well the final eight weeks of the season.
Roethlisberger was sacked only sacked only seven times in the final seven games, compared to a whopping 35 in Pittsburgh’s first nine games. The ground game also took off late in the season, which was a pleasant site.
Last year’s first-round selection David DeCastro emerged as one of the best guards in the NFL and once they settled on Kelvin Beachum and Marcus Gilbert at tackles, the line started to play very well.
I’m not entirely sold that this group should be the group heading forward, but they rebounded very nicely and dealt with a ton of injuries to end up having a decent finish to the season. Grade: C+
Defensive Line: Cameron Heyward emerged this season and was outstanding. Every week it seemed he was getting better and making big plays along the way. At the other defensive end, Brett Keisel battled a foot injury, but turned in a decent season, which could be his last in a Steelers’ uniform.
However the Steelers ranked only 21st in the NFL against the run and a big reason of that was nose tackle Steve McLendon, who had a very disappointing season overall. The first-year starter did some nice things along the way, but routinely did not win the point of attack and was blown off the ball often. When one blocker can consistently take care of McLendon, teams will average 115.6 yards on the ground against this team.
Things did get better by the end of the year, but the Steelers will have to look to upgrade up front in the offseason. Grade: C
Linebackers: For a change the Steelers linebackers were less than spectacular this season. Injuries played a big role as Larry Foote was lost in the opener and the likes of LaMarr Woodley, Jason Worilds and Jarvis Jones all missed games along the way.
Lawrence Timmons was outstanding all year long finishing the year with 126 total stops. He ended up being joined on the inside by rookie Vince Williams, who came on by the end of the season. Williams was often on the sidelines a lot as the Steelers played a ton of nickel, but when he was on the field the rookie turned into a bit of a surprise. It will be interesting to see what becomes of him with more reps.
On the outside the team primarily used three guys in Woodley, Worilds and Jones. Woodley underwhelmed once again and had his season cut short by injury. Jones’ rookie season also has to be viewed as a disappointment, even though he looked good the final week of the season.
The surprise of the group was Worilds, who came into the season as almost an afterthought after the team selected Jones in the first round. Once Woodley went down with an injury though, Jones took off as a pass rusher from the right side. It will be interesting to see if the Steelers can retain Worilds and what they decide to do with Woodley in the offseason.
Individually though the only linebackers to earn over a B grade would be Timmons and Worilds, so it was a disappointing year for the group as a whole. Grade: C+
Secondary: For most of the season, the Steelers secondary struggled, largely in part due to age and the lack of a Steelers pass rush. However Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark all showed their age at times this season even though they all had their moments. The Steelers finished ninth in the league against the pass, mostly due to playing very well late in the season.
On the outside, Taylor wasn’t his usual reliable self this season. He did play well for about half the season, but he was beaten a lot more than we have seen in the past. Opposite Taylor, Cortez Allen and William Gay played decent as both had opportunities to start. I was particularly impressed with Allen down the stretch and look forward to big things from him next season if he can stay healthy.
As for the safeties, after a slow start Polamalu came on strong and earned another trip to the Pro Bowl. He was healthy all season and of the entire secondary, I thought he was the best of the bunch. He should be taking a pay cut as I feel his days of dominance are over, but I was encouraged enough by his performance to look forward to what he can do in 2014, if he is in a Steelers uniform.
I can’t say the same thing about Clark though as he was the worst of the five guys who saw regular duty. This was the worst Clark has played in a Steelers uniform as he left a lot of plays on the field. I can’t envision any scenario where he is back in Pittsburgh next season.
Individually for the season I would give Polamalu a B, all three corners would be in the C range and Clark would get a D. Average all that out and it was a below average year for the secondary. Grade: C-
Special Teams: You have to start with kicker Shaun Suisham, who other than two misses against the Oakland Raiders, was absolutely perfect this season. Suisham has turned into a weapon and should have been picked for the Pro Bowl.
As for the punting situation, the Steelers cut Drew Butler at the end of camp in favor of Zoltan Mesko, who was a mess. He was cut for Mat McBriar, who wasn’t that much better. Sadly the best thing the punters did all season was McBriar’s 30-yard completion on a fake punt against the Packers.
Both coverage units were a mess again as the Steelers allowed way too many big plays and they got very little production from the kick returners. However Brown had an outstanding year returning punts and made the Pro Bowl as both a returner and a receiver.
Suisham and Brown get A’s, but it’s difficult to give any other part of the special teams units much better than a D grade. Grade: C-
Coaching: We started off the season with callings for both Todd Haley’s and Mike Tomlin’s jobs as the Steelers were brutal for eight weeks. But give the coaching staff some credit for not throwing in the towel and having this team in position to make the playoffs the final week of the season.
I have never been that impressed with Tomlin as a coach and I don’t believe his job would have been in jeopardy, but it was nice for him and his staff to finish the year on a positive note.
Haley should be back in 2014 as his offense was very good down the stretch. I give him some credit for swallowing his pride and handing most of the offense over to Roethlisberger, showing that the two can work well together. There’s no need to start over with a new offensive coordinator when the team went 6-2 down the stretch.
I can’t say the same about LeBeau though as for the second year in a row his defense was average at best. For most of the year they had trouble getting pressure and forcing turnovers. That was a problem and to me the main reason why the Steelers will be watching the playoffs instead of participating in them. The Steelers need to get younger on the defensive side of the ball and sadly that includes the man calling the shots.
Of all the coaches, LeBeau has always been given a free pass from Steelers Nation. That shouldn’t be the case any longer.
Overall though the coaches deserved a lot of the blame for a 2-6 start and deserve some credit for a 6-2 finish. However at the end of the day though the Steelers were only an 8-8 team which means for the entire season they were nothing more than a mediocre football team. Grade: C
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