Coming into Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers playoffs hopes were slim. After their wild and crazy 34-28 loss to the Miami Dolphins at Heinz Field, those postseason hopes have completely evaporated.
The Steelers trailed twice in the second half, only to come back both times to take the lead, but ultimately the defense gave up too many big plays again and the black-and-gold had to suffer yet another tough loss.
It’s almost fitting the Steelers lost by inches on the final play of the game because it seems they have been just a little bit off all season long.
With that being said, let’s take a look at how the Steelers graded out in my weekly report card.
Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger had another big afternoon, completing 23-of-39 pass attempts for 349 yards and three touchdowns. He also finished with an impressive 114.2 quarterback rating. He committed his first turnover in three games when he lost a fumble on a strip sack that led to a Miami touchdown. But he rallied the Steelers from a 17-7 halftime deficit and overall turned in a good enough performance to win. Grade: B+
Running Backs: It has been 21 games now without a Steelers running back rushing for over 100 yards. Despite the strong start from rookie Le’Veon Bell, the coaching staff went away from him and the Steelers running backs rushed for only 76 yards on 20 carries on a cold and snowy day where they should have had more of an impact on the game. Bell rushed for 61 yards on 15 carries and caught five passes for 28 yards. However he got only five second half carries and left some plays on the field in the passing game. Grade: C
Wide Receivers: Antonio Brown led all Steelers receivers with five catches for 137 yards, including a 43-yard catch-and-run touchdown. However his good day will be overshadowed by him stepping out of bounds at the Miami 12-yard line on the final lateral play. Emmanuel Sanders caught a touchdown, but also had another crucial drop, this time on third-and-10 with 2:33 remaining that forced the Steelers to go for it on fourth down. Jerricho Cotchery turned in another solid outing with five receptions for 62 yards and another touchdown. Grade: C
Offensive Line: Roethlisberger was sacked three times and hurried a bunch others, so the pass protection took a step backwards after three solid games. Despite not running as much as they should have the Steelers did average four yards per carry, but did not have a run longer than nine yards. Grade: C
Defensive Line: Cam Heyward was outstanding again as he had a team-high 10 tackles, a sack and a batted pass. But the Steelers gave up 181 rushing yards, the third highest total of the season. Miami had runs of 48 and 55 yards, but it was the 55-yard run from Daniel Thomas late in the game that proved to be the killer. Grade: D+
Linebackers: Jason Worilds continued his outstanding run of good play with two sacks, eight tackles, three for losses, and having two quarterback hurries. However he was the only bright spot. Both LaMarr Woodley and Jarvis Jones got caught inside on big runs and Lawrence Timmons and Vince Williams combined for only eight tackles. Grade: C-
Secondary: Troy Polamalu had the biggest play from the defense when he returned an interception 19-yards for a touchdown. But other than that the secondary struggled all afternoon. Ryan Tannehill only threw for 200 yards, but the Steelers tackled poorly, especially on the go-ahead touchdown when Polamalu and cornerback Cortez Allen each missed tackles on the winning 12-yard touchdown to tight end Charles Clay. That’s simply unacceptable from the Steelers defense. Grade: D+
Special Teams: The Steelers didn’t give up any big returns this week, but still had special teams’ problems. Punter Mat McBriar had a punt partially blocked late in the first half and Stevenson Sylvester’s holding penalty on the kickoff following the Dolphins’ last touchdown forced the Steelers to start from their 10. Grade: C-
Coaching: Really disappointed with the coaching staff in this one, especially the decision to go away from the run after a solid first quarter from Bell. With a 28-24 lead late in the game they had to take time off the clock, but didn’t even think about running the football. Then there were plenty of breakdowns on defense and special teams. These are things that have been going on all season and have not been corrected. As a result the Steelers will be watching the postseason from home. Grade: F
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