Pittsburgh Steelers: Grade Report for Winning the AFC North
“Mission accomplished.”
Those were the words uttered by Mike Tomlin following the Pittsburgh Steelers' dominating 41-9 victory over the Cleveland Browns.
The win gave Pittsburgh the AFC North title, but more importantly, a first-round bye.
Troy Polamalu played after sitting out for two straight weeks and made an impact early, intercepting a Colt McCoy pass. The interception set up a fast score for the Steelers when Ben Roethlisberger hit Mike Wallace on a 56-yard touchdown pass, their longest connection of the season.
Pittsburgh went on to score touchdowns on their next three possessions and added a field goal prior to the end of the first half to extend their lead to 31-3.
Tomlin was pleased with his team’s effort but acknowledged that this was only one step toward a bigger goal.
“We're excited to win the division and proud of doing it, but it's only hardware you pick up along the way. Today was the first game where we felt like we played close to what we're capable of,” said Tomlin.
Roethlisberger was a big part of the victory, having probably his best game of the season, and he is ready to take the next step of the journey.
“We have been through a lot,” Roethlisberger said. “Now, it's playoff time.”
Quarterbacks: A
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Ben Roethlisberger was nearly unstoppable against the Browns.
He completed 15 of 22 pass attempts for 280 yards and had two touchdowns.
Roethlisberger effortlessly led Pittsburgh’s offense up and down the field for the entire time that he was in, making both short and long throws.
The play of the day came on the Steelers' first offensive play of the game when he hit Mike Wallace in stride for a 56-yard touchdown. His second went to Heath Miller on a short four-yard score.
Roethlisberger also picked up 24 yards on the ground and was not sacked.
Byron Leftwich relieved Roethlisberger late in the game and threw for an additional 42 yards.
Season GPA: 2.63
Running Backs: B-
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Cleveland’s defense clamped down on Pittsburgh’s running game quite well. As a team, the Steelers ran for 100 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per carry.
Rashard Mendenhall only had a long run of seven yards and was limited to 36 yards on 14 carries. He also had the benefit of a wide-open passing game that Cleveland could not stop.
Mendenhall did have two one-yard rushing scores and had a 24-yard reception.
Isaac Redman added a seven-yard reception and had 12 yards on three carries. Jonathan Dwyer came in with the rest of the backups and ran well for his first action of the season.
He finished with nine carries for 28 yards.
Season GPA: 2.91
Wide Receivers: A
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Mike Wallace had 97 yards in the first quarter and finished with 105 yards and a touchdown on the day. It was his seventh 100-yard receiving game of the season.
Hines Ward helped move the chain with five receptions and caught a five-yard touchdown from Antwaan Randle El. Randle El had two catches himself.
Emmanuel Sanders only had one catch, but fellow rookie Antonio Brown picked up four for 52 yards.
Season GPA: 3.16
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Tight Ends: A
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It took nearly the entire season, but Bruce Arians has finally has Heath Miller involved in the offense.
For the second straight week, Miller was a big part of the Steelers offense as he added four receptions Sunday. He picked up 55 yards and ran over a Browns defensive back to pick up one first down.
Miller also caught a touchdown pass from Roethlisberger. It was his second of the season.
Season GPA: 3.09
Offensive Line: A-
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Though the ground game only averaged 3.3 yards per carry, Pittsburgh’s offensive line gave Roethlisberger all day to throw.
Jonathan Scott had one of his better games of the season, though he was flagged once.
Maurkice Pouncey had a strong game after being named to the Pro Bowl this week. He did get injured after most of the starters were pulled, but it appears to be nothing major.
Doug Legursky helped clear the way playing fullback on one of Mendenhall’s scores.
The line did give up two sacks, but it was only after backups entered the game along the line. Both sacks were on Byron Leftwich.
Season GPA: 2.15
Defensive Line: A
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For the second straight week, both Ziggy Hood and Brett Keisel picked up a sack.
Hood had one of his best games, with four tackles, a sack, two tackles for a loss, and a quarterback hit. He has grown every week and has become a force along Pittsburgh’s defensive line.
Keisel, who is quietly having an excellent season, hit Browns quarterback Colt McCoy and stripped the ball from him. It was recovered by Cleveland.
The line helped hold the Cleveland running game to only 43 yards, averaging 2.5 yards per carry.
Pittsburgh leads the league in run defense.
Season GPA: 3.14
Linebackers: A
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Welcome back, Lawrence Timmons.
It had been a while since Timmons made a major impact on a game, but he showed up in a big way on Sunday.
Timmons led the team with nine tackles and would have had a sack if he did not let McCoy escape him.
James Harrison had six tackles and ran down a Cleveland receiver from behind to prevent a touchdown.
LaMarr Woodley and Larry Foote split a sack.
Season GPA: 3.11
Defensive Backs: A
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Troy Polamalu once again showed that he should be one of the top contenders for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
After missing two straight games, Polamalu played Sunday and made a diving interception on Cleveland’s first drive.
The interception essentially ended the game before it even started, as the Steelers scored on the very next play.
Ryan Clark and Anthony Madison each intercepted McCoy, and Ryan Mundy made a nice play in the end zone to knock a potential touchdown away from a receiver.
McCoy was held to under a 50 percent completion percentage.
Season GPA: 2.37
Special Teams: B+
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Shaun Suisham connected on each of his field goal attempts and spent the day squib kicking on kickoffs to keep the ball away from Josh Cribbs.
The strategy worked, as Cleveland only averaged 9.1 yards per kick return, including only a 7.7-yard average for Cribbs. He was not much better on punt returns, with only one return for 11 yards.
Jeremy Kapinos averaged 56 yards on his two punts.
The Steelers did not get much from their return game, though, averaging less than two yards per punt return and only 18 yards per kick return.
Season GPA: 2.64
Coaching: A
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Mike Tomlin had his team ready to go and did not even give the Browns a chance to be competitive. He never backed off on offense or defense as the Steelers pounded their division rivals and got a measure of payback after last year’s defeat in Cleveland.
Bruce Arians may have called his best game of the season, using multiple short passes to his quick receivers as well as dialing up a long ball to Wallace.
Dick LeBeau had his defense attacking and hitting McCoy all day, as they were looking to shut him down after he passed for 280 yards in his debut against Pittsburgh.
The special teams strategy to keep the ball out of Cribbs' hands worked to perfection as the Cleveland return game did no damage.
After getting a big second-half lead, Tomlin removed most of his starters, giving them an extra quarter of rest.
One scary moment was when Pouncey went down with an injury after most of the offensive starters had been removed from the game.
Season GPA: 2.46
Final Grades
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With the regular season complete, it is time to examine the final grades for each positional group and the coaching staff.
Here are my comments and adjusted final grades for the season:
Quarterbacks: The Steelers survived without Roethlisberger to start the season, and once he returned, he threw for over 3,000 yards and was very efficient. Though their weekly performances were not always great, the body of work was, as they led the team to wins.
Season GPA: 2.63(B-)
Final Grade: B+
Running Backs: Mendenhall had a career year rushing behind an offensive line filled with backups.
Season GPA: 2.91 (B)
Final Grade: B
Wide Receivers: Wallace was outstanding as a big-play receiver and developed into an all-around receiver, and Ward was his usual self. The rookies coming on at the end of the season made this one of the most complete units on the team.
Season GPA: 3.16 (B)
Final Grade: B+
Tight Ends: Miller was not a big part of the offense, but is coming on when they need him most. The backups did not offer up much in the passing game but did play effective roles.
Season GPA: 3.09 (B)
Final Grade: B
Offensive Line: Losing Max Starks and Willie Colon hurt, but Flozell Adams stepped in nicely at right tackle, and Pouncey had a Pro Bowl season and really solidified a makeshift line.
Season GPA: 2.15 (C)
Final Grade: C+
Defensive Line: Aaron Smith was a big loss, and missing Keisel for a portion of the season did not help either. Keisel was great when healthy, and Hood developed as the season progressed. Casey Hampton and Chris Hoke were excellent in the middle.
Season GPA: 3.14 (B)
Final Grade: A
Linebackers: Harrison played with the NFL breathing down his neck at a near MVP level and James Farrior had a resurgence. Woodley had a solid season and Timmons a breakout season. Rookies Jason Worilds and Stevenson Sylvester both flashed their potential.
Season GPA: 3.11 (B)
Final Grade: A
Defensive Backs: Besides the offensive line, this is the most criticized unit on the Steelers. Polamalu played at an MVP level, Clark let up very few big plays, and Ike Taylor played at a very high level. Bryant McFadden had his struggles, and William Gay played well for the most part, aside from two very bad games.
Season GPA: 2.37 (C+)
Final Grade: C+
Special Teams: Pittsburgh lost both of their kickers, Jeff Reed (released) and Daniel Sepulveda (injury), but moved forward. Shaun Suisham has been very good since coming in, and the coverage units have been much better than last season. The return units have been up and down.
Season GPA: 2.64 (B-)
Final Grade: B-
Coaching: Tomlin had to start the season without his franchise quarterback and did so with a 3-1 record, then led his team to a 12-4 record and a division title. Though he struggled with challenges and time management, not to mention three home losses, Tomlin had his team go 7-1 on the road and put his team in position to win with a lot of backups in the lineup. Dick LeBeau had his defense bounce back and Bruce Arians was, well, Bruce Arians.
Season GPA: 2.46 (C+)
Final Grade: A-
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The Steelers have earned the second seed the the AFC and a first-round bye. Their AFC Divisional Round game will be held at Heinz Field on Saturday, January 15th, at 4:30 p.m. against an opponent TBD.
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