Even though they looked all but dead at halftime, the Pittsburgh Steelers managed to find a way to hang onto their slim playoff hopes with an improbable 37-27 comeback victory over the NFC North leading Detroit Lions.
This game featured the good, the bad, and the ugly for the Steelers, but for a change they made the necessary adjustments in the locker room and turned things around in a positive way.
With that being said, let’s take a look at how the Steelers graded out in their second consecutive victory.
Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger was fantastic, completing 29-of-45 pass attempts for 367 yards and four touchdowns. He was great in the first quarter as the Steelers took a 17-3 lead and brought them back from a 27-20 deficit. He also led them on a beautiful 97-yard drive for the lead after the Lions fake field goal attempt blew up in their face. Big Ben finished with a passer rating of 119.4 in wet conditions and didn’t turn the football over. Grade: A+
Running Backs: The Steelers rushed for only 40 yards on 27 carries and rookie Le’Veon Bell continues to struggle, gaining only 36 yards on 18 carries. The only positives came in the passing game as Bell caught four passes for 52 yards, including a big 43-yard catch and run to set up a field goal and Will Johnson also added a touchdown catch to give the Steelers a lead they would not relinquish. Grade: C-
Wide Receivers: Antonio Brown had a huge day with seven receptions for 147 yards and two scores. His biggest play though may have been a big 16-yard catch on third down to keep the 97-yard drive alive. Tight end Heath Miller had a nice afternoon as well with a team-high eight receptions, although he had another drop, this time costing the Steelers a touchdown. Emmanuel Sanders left the game with an injury, allowing rookie Markus Wheaton to step in and contribute a career-high three receptions. Finally Jerricho Cotchery found the end zone again. Overall it was a very solid day for the playmakers. Grade: A
Offensive Line: Big Ben was sacked only once and guard David DeCastro did a fantastic job on containing Ndamukong Suh. That was the positives for the afternoon as there were also a lot of negative, which included rushing for a season-low 1.8 yards per carry. In addition, Guy Whimper, who was filling in for Ramon Foster, took a couple of costly holding penalties that ultimately gave the Lions a short field. Then there was the fact that they couldn’t punch it in on the ground on four plays from the Lions one-yard line. Grade: C-
Defensive Line: The defensive lineman made plays at times. Ziggy Hood, filling in for Brett Keisel, had a sack on the final play for the Lions. Steve McLendon made the play on the Lions fake field goal attempt and Can Heyward continued to look good, knocking down a pair of passes and recording six tackles. But while the Steelers couldn’t run the ball on the wet field, the Lions found a way to run for 4.3 yards per carry, gaining 107 yards on the ground on the afternoon. Grade: C
Linebackers: At the end of the day, the Steelers defense allowed nearly 400 yards of offense, 27 points and 16 first downs. But give them credit for tightening up after halftime, allowing only five first downs and 72 total yards. Lawrence Timmons didn’t have a great game, with only five tackles, but did recover a fumble. Jason Worilds, filling in for LaMarr Woodley had a good game with with seven tackles, four hurries and a sack. Rookie Jarvis Jones also made an impact by batting down a couple of passes. Average it all out though and it was a decent afternoon for the linebackers. Grade: B
Secondary: The Steelers secondary held Matthew Stafford to 35 yards on just 3-of-16 completions after halftime, but it is hard to ignore the fact that Stafford lit them up for 327 yards in the first half. In addition, while Calvin Johnson was held without a catch in the second half, he torched Ike Taylor in the first half to the tune of six catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Taylor also dropped a pair of gift wrapped interceptions. Will Allen did record an interception and led the Steelers with nine tackles. Grade: C+
Special Teams: The return game didn’t do much but Shaun Suisham nailed three field goals, punter Mat McBriar had a big 70-yard punt and the Steelers didn’t fall for the Lions fake field goal attempt. Grade: B+
Coaching: The Steelers responded in the second half, so I will give the coaching staff credit, but they still got torched in the second quarter and watched a two possession lead evaporate. In addition the red zone problems are starting to become disturbing as the Steelers had to settle for field goals on 3-of-4 red zone trips. Grade: B-
Photo Credit: Associated Press
