From the grade book of a teacher who is just happy to see his students finally “Above the line” here is the Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for Pittsburgh’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Terrell Edmunds returns his first interception at Tampa Bay. Photo Credit: Karl Rosner, Steelers.com
Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger’s first interception was vintage Big Ben trying to do too much. But Roethlisberger bounced back throwing 3 touchdown strikes and running a two minute drill with pin-point precision to end the first half. AFC Offensive Player of the week honors not withstanding, the Steelers offense was scoreless in the 2nd half and Steelers struggled on 3rd down. Grade: A
Running Backs
James Conner’s 61 yards on 15 carries and 35 catches for 5 yards might not make any fantasy owners happy, but James Conner’s 4th quarter rushing was phenomenal. Stevan Ridley got another 3 carries to spell Conners and looked good. Grade: B
Tight Ends
A week ago the Tribune Review’s Tim Benz wondered allowed why Vance McDonald was still starting over Jesse James. No one is asking that question today, as Vance McDonald’s stiff arm is already one of the Tomlin era’s greatest offensive plays. McDonald caught 3 other passes on 5 targets. Jesse James caught one pass for 7 yards while Xavier Grimble and one target. Grade: A
Wide Receivers
Antonio Brown had one touchdown on 6 catches for 9 targets. Brown could have had more, but he and Ben were clearly not on the same page, which could have something to do with him missing practice. JuJu Smith-Schuster led the unit with 9 catches for 116 yards and came up big when the Steelers needed him two. James Washington only had to catches, but both converted first downs, while Ryan Switzer caught a touchdown to close the 1st half. Grade: B
Offensive Line
Missing two starters on the offensive line, the unit struggled at times as Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 3 times and was hit nine times. Still, Steelers offensive line provided Ben time to throw when he needed, and opened holes for James Conner when the game was on the line. Grade: B
Defensive Line
Statistically speaking, it was a quiet night for the Steelers defensive line, although Stephon Tuitt did log 3 quarterback hits, and Cam Heyward logged another and defensed a pass. But what this unit did is evident in numbers elsewhere, such as the anemic performance of Tampa’s running backs, and Daniel McCuller’s pressure that helped lead to a Ryan Fitzpatrick interception. Grade: B
Linebackers
Vince Williams had 5 tackles and a quarterback hit, T.J. Watt had four tackles plus a QB hit. The real star of the crew was Bud Dupree, he had a sack, tackle for a loss, 3 QB hits, a pass defensed and most importantly a pick six. A good night for Steelers linebacking. Grade: B
Secondary
If there was any doubt, and they should not be, Joe Haden proved he the group’s unquestioned leader. Haden defended 3 passes and really seemed to elevate everyone else’s play. Terrell Edmunds got his first pick, and displayed lighting like quickness on the return. Mike Hilton had an interception, defensed a pass and helped drop someone behind the line of scrimmage. Artie Burns forced a fumble and tackled well, although he continues to struggle in coverage. Coty Sensabaugh split time with Burns rotating the two makes sense. Sean Davis rebounded from a bad game.
The Steelers secondary still has issues. However, the unit produced 3 turnovers, including one in the Red Zone and those players were difference makers. Grade: C+
Mike Hilton’s Red Zone interception. Photo Credit: Mark LoMoglio, AP via Tribune-Review
Special Teams
Chris Boswell continues to struggle, and carry critical costs his missed extra point and field goal would have made a huge difference for the Steelers. The Steelers continue to self-destruct with penalties, although Tampa negated a touchdown of its own. Jordan Berry had a better night punting, and pinned Tampa down deep in its own territory not once, but twice although the latter one was negated by a penalty. Ryan Switzer had one decent kick return, and one 16 yard punt return. Boswell must start making kicks and his slump brings the grade for the unit down. Grade: C-
Coaching
For the 2nd straight week, Randy Fichtner’s offense put up enough points to win, but the unit remains a work in progress. The Steelers moved the chains well enough in the second half, but didn’t score and continued to struggle on third downs.
- Keith Butler took a lot of abuse from the fan base after the horrendous effort against Kansas City.
Most, if not all of that was well deserved. Nonetheless, the Steelers defense played better. Coverage lapses abounded, particularly in the second half, but the Steelers defense created turnovers, pressured the passer and scored which helped compensate.
- The Steelers did not lack for drama this week.
Charges that Mike Tomlin had “lost the locker room” swirled on social media. Yet Tomlin took it in stride, keep the Steelers dirty laundry in house – at least as far as is possible in the age of social media – made a personnel change, and ordered a live tackling drill. His team responded and turned in Above the Line performances. Grade: B
Unsung Hero Award
On lookers greeted his arrival in Pittsburgh with a collective “Ho hum.” Objective evaluations of what he brought to the team were always made in comparison to who he wasn’t. He didn’t do much to stand out during the first two weeks, and even ESPN Deportes Raul Allegre harshly criticized him early in the game.
Yet this player paid those critiques no mind, as he led the team in tackles, registered a sack, dropped two rushers behind the line of scrimmage defensed one pass and tipped another that turned into a Red Zone interception, and for that inside linebacker Jon Bostic wins the Unsung Hero Award for the Steelers win over Tampa Bay.
