The Pittsburgh Steelers turned the tide after a painful Week 3 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 43-14 on Sunday night.
The Steelers saw a few firsts in their Week 4 match against the Chiefs: running back Le’Veon Bell made his season debut, the pass rush was alive and well and Markus Wheaton didn’t drop a pass.
Without further ado, here are the Steelers’ positional grades from their Sunday Night Football game against the Chiefs.
Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger was close to perfect on Sunday, throwing for 300 yards on 22/27 completed passes. The five touchdowns he threw to four different receivers was the icing on the cake, as he mentioned in his post-game chat with Michele Tafoya he was “happy” that a diverse group of players contributed. Roethlisberger certainly fired up the offense after the loss to Philadelphia. Whatever he said, it worked. Grade: A+
Running Backs: The return of Le’Veon Bell was exactly what everyone expected it to be. Bell had over 100 yards, finishing off the night with 144 yards on 18 carries. While DeAngelo Williams didn’t put up the big numbers Bell did (Williams rushed for seven yards on four carries), he did score a touchdown. It was all part of the plan to easy Bell back into the game after being “off” (read: suspended) for three weeks. Grade: A-
Wide Receivers: The wide receiving corps had a field day against the Chiefs’ depleted secondary. Antonio Brown caught two touchdowns, while Darrius Heyward-Bey and Markus Wheaton each caught one. Sammie Coates led the wide receivers with seven receptions for 79 yards, including an 47-yard catch from Roethlisberger. No receivers dropped the football, but no receiver broke 100 yards. Grade: A
Tight Ends: Jesse James might have to hear the “HEEEATH” chant for the rest of his Steelers career, but that chant means he’s getting the ball in his hands. James scored a touchdown and recorded two receptions for 15 yards. He, David Johnson and Xavier Grimble also helped the run game with their blocking and kept defenders away from Roethlisberger. Grade: B
Offensive Line: Let’s forget the botched snap between Chris Hubbard and Landry Jones ever happened for a minute. The offensive line held up well, allowing only Roethlisberger to be sacked just twice and opening up holes for the running backs to squeeze through. Now, going back to Hubbard’s botched snap, the line does lose some points. Now, the Steelers need to find a replacement for the injured Marcus Gilbert. Grade: B+
Defensive Line: Pittsburgh’s pass rush has officially been found. Cam Heyward had a big night against Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, recording three sacks. Heyward was also the man who got his fingertips on the first-quarter pass from Smith that led to a Jarvis Jones interception. Stephon Tuitt also had a game to remember with his forced fumble against Tyreek Hill. Grade: A
Linebackers: The linebackers had solid outing against the Chiefs, especially Vince Williams. Williams had a sack against Smith and led the team in tackles (13 solo and two assists). Jones recorded the interception, which led to a Steelers touchdown. Another positive was that the linebackers held Spencer Ware to only 82 rushing yards and no touchdowns. Grade: A-
Secondary: It’s not quite there yet, but it’s coming along. Artie Burns showed his exceptional talent on some plays, but he was faulty on others, as was veteran cornerback William Gay. The secondary gave up two passing touchdowns in their endzone, but it primarily forced the Chiefs to punt the ball. Overall, it was a major improvement. Grade: B
Special Teams: It was a quiet night for punter Jordan Berry, which is always a good thing. However, when Berry punted, he put the Chiefs in tough field position. As for kicker Chris Boswell, he converted all five of his extra point attempts and wasn’t called on for a field goal try. Grade: A+
Coaching: Mike Tomlin deserves a lot of credit for icing the Chiefs kicker, Cairo Santos, in the second quarter. He also made the smart call to go for the two-point conversion early in the game, which set the tone for the dominant performance. It was also a good choice to take Roethlisberger out of the game in the fourth quarter to prevent any rough hits when the Steelers were in a comfortable, 20-point lead. Grade: A+
What’s Next?
The Steelers will host the New York Jets on Sunday, October 9. The game will kickoff at 1 p.m. EDT.
Image credit: Jared Wickerham/AP
