Taken from the grade book of a teacher leading a straight A yet imperfect class, here is the Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for the 2020 victory over the Jaguars in Jacksonville.
Stephon Tuitt sacks Jake Luton on 3rd down. Photo Credit: AP, via Tribune-Review
Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger went 32 of 46 for 267 two touchdowns plus an interception. These are solid numbers, but the Steelers were below the line a bit on 3rd down conversions, and Ben Roethlisberger’s end zone interception cost the team at least 3 points. Grade: B
Running Backs
James Conner ran 13 times for 89 yards, ripping off a long run deep in Steelers territory and executing an impressive reverse of field run that could have easily gone for a loss. Benny Snell scored the only rushing touchdown of the day and looked OK in non-garbage time runs. Anthony McFarland was not impressive gaining 3 yards on 3 carries. Grade: B
Tight Ends
Eric Ebron was on his own for much of the game, as an injury took Zach Gentry out of the game. Ebron caught 4 of 7 passes thrown his way including the final touchdown. Grade: B
Wide Receivers
Diontae Johnson had another breakout day which at one point saw him hauling in more catches that Jake Luton had made completions. He showed his versitiliy, catching balls at short, medium and long lengths, including an incredible goal line catch. Chase Claypool had 4 catches and an impressive touchdown. JuJu Smith-Schuster had 4 catches for 19 yards. Ray-Ray McCloud had 4 catches for 20 yards and 1 run for 3. James Washington only had one catch, but it converted a third down and set up a touchdown. Grade: A
Diontae Johnson makes goal line catch. Photo Credit: AP via Tribune-Review
Offensive Line
Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t sacked the entire day and was only hit twice. More importantly, the running backs had room to run. No one will confuse Sunday’s performance against the Jaguars with road grading delivered by Steelers offensive lines of yesteryear, but it was and improvement over previous weeks, and enough to make the running game a factor, albeit an erratic one. Grade: B
Defensive Line
Cam Heyward led the defensive line in tackles and while he wasn’t credited for a sack, he clearly pressured the quarterback. Tyson Alualu lone stat is a tipped pass – which helped cause an interception and fuel what was at a minimum a 10 point swing. Henry Mondeaux had one quarterback hit. James Robinson’s rushing average wasn’t bad, but if the Steelers did contain him, and that started with the line. Grade: B+
Linebackers
As usual Vince Williams led the Steelers linebackers in tackles, dishing out punishment as he went along. T.J. Watt went sackless for only the 3rd time in 10 games, but did hit the quarterback 2 times. Robert Spillane had four tackles while Alex Highsmith had 2. The real star of the unit was Bud Dupree who had deflected a pass had one sack and came very close to deflecting another. Grade: B+
Secondary
The Jaguars were 4-13 on third downs. Deep into the 4th quarter Diontae Johnson had more catches than Jake Luton completions. Oh, yeah, and Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edumnds both had two deflected passes and two interceptions, the first time since 1998 that two safeties have had multiple picks in one game (thanks to Jim Wexell for that stat.) If you’re keeping score, Steven Nelson had an uncredited deflected pass. And if you’re keeping track, Joe Haden had 3 tackles. Grade: A
Terrell Edmunds nets his 2nd interception in a game. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
Special Teams
Chris Boswell made 2 field goals but missed another, while being perfect on extra points. Jordan Berry had a soild day punting. Ray-Ray McCloud had a solid day returning, and the Steelers punt coverage was solid. Marcus Allen had a heads up play on an on sides kick. Grade: B+
Coaching
While it is true that Jordan Berry did take the field a little too often for comfort, that should not obscure the fact that the Steelers run game was considerably better than it has been for the last several weeks. And if Randy Ficthner’s offense didn’t put together as many long drives as one will like, it did transform 2 turnovers into touchdowns.
- Keith Butler came into the game with a simple mandate: Dominate a rookie quarterback.
Butler’s boys passed with flying colors, containing James Robinson, creating unmanageable third downs which the rookie was ill-equipped to convert.
Behind it all is Mike Tomlin. The Steelers are riding an unheard of 10-0 record, yet you wouldn’t know that by reading any of his player’s post-game press clippings. This type of “We’re good but we can and will improve attitude” is as healthy as you can get. Grade: A
Unsung Hero Award
Look at the stat sheet and it says 1 tackle, 1 assist, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit. Look pretty mundane. But Stephon Tuitt’s play in this game was anything but mundane and for that he wins the Unsung Hero Award for the Steelers 2020 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
