There wasn’t alot of drama behind the Steelers-Vikings game ball voting, as it came down to a tale of two studs on each side of the ball.
Martavis Byrant high fives Cam Heyward in the Steelers 2016 playoff loss to Denver. Photo Credit: David Zalubowski, AP via Pro Football Weekly
Cameron Heyward and Martavis Bryant ended the poll deadlocked with 12 votes a piece.
Credit the citizens of Steelers Nation for being smarter than the proverbial average bear on this one. Support for Martavis Bryant is obvious here, factor in the pass interference penalties and as Bryant’s 3 catch, 91 yard efforts in the Steelers win over the Vikings broaches the level of being dominant.
Things with Cam Heyward aren’t so clear. In an age when the fantasty football mentality dominates too many fans, Heyward’s effort against the Vikings looks rather ho hum, as it is absent “Splash” plays to speak of. But Heyward dominated against the Vikings, stopping several runs at the line of scrimmage, and disrupting their running game consistently by rerouting runners.
- After that, referee Eddie Morelli was the next highest vote getter with four, followed by 3 for Chris Boswell.
Boswell scored 14 points in the game, giving the Steelers all but 3 of their margin of victory so its a tad bit surprising that he didn’t do better. Ben Roethlisberger also earned 3 votes as did Eli Rogers. Ryan Shazier polled two votes while Bud Dupree got one.
- Our voters didn’t find any love for Antonio Brown, Vince Williams, and Tyler Matakevich.
That’s a bit surprising. Tyler Matakevich had his second big special teams play in as many weeks while Vince Williams had a big game on the inside and helped cut off the middle of the field for the Vikings – Williams has come a long way since his first start in the disastrous London Loss to the Vikings.
Mike Hilton, who had a strong game, earned a write-in vote, as did James Harrison who didn’t take a snap. Thanks again to all how voted.
