It took 15 weeks of the NFL season, but the Pittsburgh Steelers finally put together a complete effort in Sunday night’s 30-20 victory over division rival Cincinnati Bengals.
That was the case for the first half at least as the Steelers resembled a dominant team that forced mistakes and took advantage of them when they happened.
While in the grand scheme of things their performance may have been a case of “too little, too late,” in terms of their playoff chances, it was nice to see the Steelers not just lay down and roll over on the primetime stage.
With that being said, let’s take a look at how the Steelers graded out in Sunday night’s win.
Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger got off to a very hot start and played well once again. He completed 20-of-25 passess for 191 yards and a touchdown. He did throw an interception but finished the night with a solid QBR of 90.1 and a quarterback rating of 95.2. Grade: A-
Running Backs: While the Steelers rushed for only 106 yards on 36 carries as a team and averaged only 2,9 yards per carry, I liked what I saw from Le’Veon Bell at times, although most of his positives came in the passing game with five receptions for 50 yards. Bell averaged only 2.4 yards per carry on the night, gaining only 57 yards on 24 carries. However both Jonathan Dwyer and Felix Jones did some nice things carrying the football as the duo came off the bench to combine for 48 yards on 11 carries. Grade: C+
Wide Receivers: Antonio Brown led the way with five receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown. Emmanuel Sanders also had five receptions, including a nice spin move to convert a big third-and-seven in the fourth that allowed the Steelers to run more clock. while it was a solid day for the playmakers, there weren’t many big plays to be found, but with a big early lead the Steelers didn’t need many. Grade: C+
Offensive Line: The Steelers offensive line performed as well as it has all season in the first half when they showed great inside push, rushing for 63 yards on 18 carries against a defense that ranked fifth in the league against the run. They also allowed Roethlisberger to get sacked only once against a defense with a solid pass rush. They weren’t nearly as dominant on the ground though as gaining only 2.9 yards per carry is a black mark on how good they played early on. Grade: B
Defensive Line: The front three had some success and got some heat on Andy Dalton. They also were very good against the run as they held the Bengals to a mere 57 yards rushing on 22 carries (2.6 ypc). Nose tackle Al Woods had a batted pass and a third-down goal-line stop. DE Ziggy Hood got the only sack in the first half and recovered a fumble that led to a field goal. Overall it was a pretty dominating night from the likes of Woods, Hood and Cam Heyward. Grade: A
Linebackers: I thought the linebackers were solid. Although they had no sacks, they seemed to get pressure consistently on Dalton. Vince Williams I thought was particularly solid, registering six tackles (all solo) and made a big play in stopping Benjarvis Green-Ellis on a third-and-one play that led to the muffed punt. Lawrence Timmons and Jason Worilds also played pretty well and while Jarvis Jones only had one tackle, he did bat down a two-point conversion attempt that could have made it a one possession game in the fourth quarter. Grade: B-
Secondary: A lot of the Bengals production came late with the game pretty much already decided. For a team that likes to make big plays in the passing game, the Bengals longest pass play on the night was for only 19 yards. Troy Polamalu forced a fumble and looked active all night and the likes of Ike Taylor, Cortez Allen and Will Allen all did some good things that helped the Steelers win. Grade: B
Special Teams: The Steelers finally made big plays in the special teams game instead of giving them up all of the time. Antonio Brown’s 67-yard punt return for touchdown gave the Steelers all the breathing room they needed early on and they added a gift touchdown on a muffed punt as well. Shaun Suisham was solid as usual, but the kickoff coverage team was not so good as they allowed returns of 52 and 36 yards that set up the first two Bengals’ touchdowns. Grade: A-
Coaching: The offense scored 27 or more points for the fourth time in seven games and the defense didn’t allow a play longer than 19 yards all night. That’s the formula for winning, so give Mike Tomlin, Todd Haley and Dick LeBeau some credit. You just have to wonder where all this was the first half of the season. Grade: A
Photo Credit: ESPN
