Biggest Takeaways from Pittsburgh Steelers' Week 5 Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off a thrilling, last-second victory over the San Diego Chargers on Monday night, winning 24-20. Mike Vick had his second start as Pittsburgh's quarterback while Ben Roethlisberger continues to recover from his knee injury, and the Steelers defense had a challenge in the form of Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, whose throwing under pressure this season has been masterful.

So what did we learn from the Steelers' third win of the season? Here are the five biggest takeaways from Monday's game. 

A Risk That Pays Off

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On the Steelers' first offensive possession, the team lined up running back Le'Veon Bell under center and split quarterback Mike Vick out wide, with Bell taking the direct snap in the Wildcat formation. It came up again in the first half and had all observers wondering what exactly the Steelers were doing.

But it all became clear in the final play of the game, when Bell lined up in the Wildcat again from the Chargers' 1-yard line with just seconds remaining and made his way—barely—into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. 

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Chris Adamski noted after the game that the Bell Wildcat play came up in practice earlier in the week during the team's "seven shots" drill (or seven plays from the 1- or 2-yard line). In that practice, Bell was stuffed by Pittsburgh's defense, but he made it clear at the time that it would never happen again.

It nearly did. Bell's knee was just inches from being down before the football crossed the goal line. It wasn't, though, and the Steelers scored. But Bell, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and coordinator Todd Haley were just inches away from taking the heat from a failed, risky play rather than earning praise for their inventiveness.

But one thing cannot be denied—the Steelers were gutsy (as Tomlin said to Adamski's colleague Mark Kaboly, the team "went to the mattresses," in order "to do what was required to win"), and the gamble paid off on Monday.

Not Much Trust in Mike Vick's Arm

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Steelers quarterback Mike Vick finished Monday night's game with 13 completions on 26 attempts for 203 yards, one touchdown and an interception, taking three sacks in the process. But even that low number of opportunities and yards was overshadowed by two plays.

One, a 39-yard completion to receiver Antonio Brown, and another, a 72-yard touchdown bomb to Markus Wheaton, accounted for 111 of Vick's passing yards against the Chargers. Take those two throws away, and he went 11-of-24 for 82 yards. 

Though Vick had 10 days to prepare for the Chargers—compared to less than four between the St. Louis Rams in Week 3 and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4—his responsibilities as a passer were minimal Monday night. It's as though coordinator Todd Haley does not trust Vick's arm. 

On the one hand, this makes sense—Vick isn't the player he used to be when he was worthy of a starting job, and his delivery is painfully slow, which opens him up to pressure from opposing defenses. But on the other hand, as evidenced by his scoring strike to Wheaton, he still has the arm strength to push the ball down the field at a moment's notice.

But regardless of those moments of heroics that Vick is capable of, the Steelers don't trust his arm enough to have him throw more than 26 times in 56 total offensive plays.

Quarterback Pressure, with a Caveat

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The Steelers were able to sack an opposing quarterback again, taking down the Chargers' Philip Rivers twice, hitting him another three times and hurrying him 23 times. The latter metric was led by defensive end Cameron Heyward, with nine, and linebacker James Harrison, with six, according to Pro Football Focus.

The night brought Pittsburgh's collective sack total to 16—an impressive feat five games into the season, given that the team totaled 33 for all of 2014. But defensive coordinator Keith Butler also learned an important lesson against Rivers on Monday—when to blitz.

Pro Football Focus has Rivers as the most accurate quarterback under pressure this year, with a higher pressured-pass completion percentage than any other passer in the league. And, interestingly enough, he performs better when blitzed than when facing a traditional three- or four-man rush.

Why is this? Because he's a veteran—and a good one at that. Any time there are extra rushers coming his way—which takes away a potential defender in coverage—he spots that hole and exploits it. Rivers' ability against the blitz meant the Steelers couldn't just blitz him, they had to get home more often than not.

That wasn't the case on Monday, as Rivers beat blitz after Steelers blitz. But Pittsburgh did get two sacks in and made life rough for Rivers, another sign that the pass rush as a whole is markedly improved from a year ago. 

Woes Defending the Tight End

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One of the unwelcome consequences of the Steelers doing so much blitzing, particularly early on, is that it left Chargers tight end Antonio Gates wide open or in single coverage against smaller corners and slower linebackers, which led him to catch nine passes on 11 targets for 92 yards and two scores.

And he wasn't the only Chargers tight end to have a big game against the Steelers, either, with Ladarius Green catching all five passes thrown his way for 50 yards.

The tight end, in particular, has been tough for the Steelers to defend against. They previously gave up 62 yards on five catches to the San Francisco 49ers' Vernon Davis and five catches for 94 yards and three scores to the New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski in Week 1.

This comes on the heels of Pittsburgh's defense ranking 28th when defending tight ends in 2014, according to Football Outsiders. With coverage being a problem in general for the Steelers this year and in the middle of the field in particular, with inside linebacker Ryan Shazier being sidelined with a shoulder injury, it was not surprising that Gates and Green had such big nights on Monday.

This is one area of coverage the Steelers need to tighten up. If they cannot, then they may slowly take blitzing off the menu in favor of having more defenders in coverage. Luckily, Pittsburgh's three- and four-man rush has been hitting paydirt this year.

Antonio Brown May Have to Wait for Ben Roethlisberger

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For nearly two years now, the resounding question circling the Steelers was, "Who can stop receiver Antonio Brown?" And we may have just found the answer: an injury to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

With Roethlisberger working his way back from the MCL sprain and bone bruise he suffered in Week 3 against the St. Louis Rams, Mike Vick has spent the last two weeks as the starting quarterback. And Brown's production has taken a major hit.

Last week, against the Baltimore Ravens, Brown had five catches on nine targets for 42 yards and no scores. Against the Chargers Monday night, he caught three of six targets for 45 yards and, again, no scores. It's clear that timing and communication between Brown and Vick are not the same as between Brown and Roethlisberger, and as such, Brown has become a near non-factor in Pittsburgh's offense.

Of Brown's 45 yards on Monday, 39 came on just one catch. Otherwise, his stat line for the night was just two catches for six yards. For Brown to get back to his typical form, he's going to need Roethlisberger back under center. Which means it could be at least a week, if not longer, until Brown can regain his mantle as one of the NFL's best and most dangerous receivers.