Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Carolina Panthers: Report Card Grades for Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Steelers showed how much of a difference 10 days can make with their 37-19 win over the Carolina Panthers Sunday night.
After an unconvincing season-opening win over the Cleveland Browns and a 20-point loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2, the Steelers (2-1) eased a lot of doubts in notching their biggest margin of victory on the road since they beat the Cleveland Browns 41-9 in Week 17 of the 2010 season.
Not many prognosticators put a "W" next to this game on the Steelers schedule before the season, and a win seemed even less likely considering the Panthers' 2-0 start and the shellacking the Steelers took at Baltimore on Sept. 11.
"The Steelers dominating the team Boomer Esiason of CBS called the best in the NFL earlier today. The NFL...it changes by the hour.
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) September 22, 2014"
Part of the reason the Steelers pulled off such a surprising victory was the two turnovers they forced. Both led to touchdowns in the second half. The Steelers forced no turnovers in their first two games, and the Panthers didn't turn the ball over in the first two weeks. It seemed like the immovable object against the very resistible force, but the Steelers induced two fumbles, one of them on special teams, and committed no turnovers.
The turning point of the game came when Jarvis Jones forced Cam Newton to fumble at his own 17 with the Steelers leading 9-3 early in the third quarter.
It looked like the Steelers would have to settle for their fourth field goal, but the Panthers were offside on the attempt, and Antonio Brown caught one of his two seven-yard touchdowns from Ben Roethlisberger to make the score 16-3. The Steelers maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Injuries did rain on the Steelers' parade, however. Ike Taylor broke his arm. Jones hurt his wrist and Ryan Shazier hurt his knee.
"Ike's forearm is broken. Shazier knee injury, Jarvis wrist, and Tomlin kind of lumped them together as 'significant.' Didn't elaborate.
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) September 22, 2014"
The defense might be able to absorb the blow in the short term with two winless teams next on the Steelers schedule. They host Tampa Bay next week and are at Jacksonville on Oct. 5.
The Steelers withstood those injuries Sunday and earned a report card worthy of hanging on the fridge.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Ben Roethlisberger had none of the inaccuracy problems that he displayed in Baltimore, completing 22 of 30 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns against Carolina.
Both of Roethlisberger's touchdown passes were seven-yarders to Antonio Brown, and Big Ben displayed his penchant for keeping plays alive under pressure.
He got away with a dangerous pass on his first touchdown, which gave the Steelers a 16-3 lead in the third quarter.
Roethlisberger was sacked once, though he seemed to move into the pressure on that particular play.
Overall, Roethlisberger did what he had to do, which was find Brown.
Grade: A
Running Backs
2 of 10
The Steelers running backs made history Sunday night, even if a reminder of the 1980s is bittersweet for Steelers fans.
Le'Veon Bell for for a career-high 147 yards, averaging seven yards a carry. LeGarrette Blount added 118 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown. It was the first time two Steelers running backs ran for more than 100 yards in the same game since Earnest Jackson and Walter Abercrombie did it in 1986.
"First time since 1986 Steeler had two 100 yard rushers in same game. E Jackson and Abercrombie did it vs. Bengals
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) September 22, 2014"
Pittsburgh's 264 rushing yards were their most in a game since Mike Tomlin became head coach in 2007. Bell's 81-yard gain in the third quarter was the Steelers' longest run since Frenchy Fuqua in 1970, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It came on a 2nd-and-22 play and set up Antonio Brown's second touchdown, which increased the Steelers' lead to 23-6.
Grade: A+
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 10
Antonio Brown caught at least five passes for 50 yards for the 19th straight game, tying Laveranues Coles for the NFL record.
Brown went way beyond that threshold with 10 catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns. In the third quarter, he found a way to get open behind multiple Panthers defenders in the corner of the end zone for a seven-yard TD catch that gave the Steelers a 16-3 lead and put them in control of the game.
Markus Wheaton added four receptions for 35 yards and Heath Miller caught four balls for 51 yards, his best receiving game this season.
Miller and fellow tight end Matt Spaeth helped ignite the Steelers running attack with their blocking.
Grade: A
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
It didn't matter that Cody Wallace was playing in place of an injured Ramon Foster at left guard. The offensive line pried open holes for two 100-yard runners.
Ben Roethlisberger was sacked just once, and that was on him as much as it was on the offensive line.
There were a few penalties, including David DeCastro's unnecessary roughness that would have cost the Steelers three points at the end of the first half if Le'Veon Bell hadn't gained 12 yards on the next play to get the Steelers back into field-goal range.
Despite that transgression, DeCastro in particular stood out with his blocking.
Grade: A
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Steve McLendon had his fourth career sack, his first since 2012, and added a quarterback hit. He also made two tackles for losses. Cameron Heyward hounded Cam Newton all night, getting two hits on the Panthers QB, according to ESPN.com.
Brett Keisel also made his way into the Panthers backfield on several occasions.
The defensive line wasn't really called upon to stop the run. The Panthers ran the ball only 10 times in the game for 42 yards.
Grade: A
Linebackers
6 of 10
Jarvis Jones now has doubled his rookie-year sack total.
He stripped the ball from Cam Newton, and Jason Worilds recovered the fumble at the Panthers 17 early in the third quarter. It was the first turnover forced by the Steelers this season, and they capitalized with a touchdown to take a 16-3 lead.
Jones might have had another sack if Panthers tackle Byron Bell didn't grab his facemask in the third quarter.
Lawrence Timmons was second on the team with six total tackles, according to ESPN.com.
The Steelers drew upon their depth at linebacker in this game. Jones and Ryan Shazier both left with injuries. Arthur Moats replaced Jones and made one of the Steelers' three sacks. Spence filled in for Shazier and was a factor.
Grade: A
Defensive Backs
7 of 10
Cortez Allen led the Steelers with seven total tackles, according to ESPN.com, and was disruptive on pass defense.
Allen led the way as Steelers defensive backs prevented yards after the catch for most of the night. Allen did, however, allow tight end Greg Olsen to catch a 38-yard touchdown pass.
Ike Taylor's injury might be a little more worrisome than the Steelers' injuries at linebacker. Antwon Blake replaced him and gave up Kelvin Benjamin's 35-yard touchdown pass in garbage time. Of course, Blake is eight inches shorter than the 6'5" Benjamin.
William Gay, who turned in another solid performance, broke up the two-point conversion.
Safeties Troy Polamalu and Mike Mitchell were both relatively quiet, which for Mitchell is a good thing.
Grade: B+
Special Teams
8 of 10
Shaun Suisham kicked field goals of 42, 24 and 45 yards in the first half to help the Steelers ride out their 131-minute touchdown drought, and the Steelers had a 9-3 halftime lead.
Brad Wing boomed a 59-yard punt with the Steelers leading 23-13 early in the fourth quarter. Philly Brown muffed it at the Panthers' 12, tried to recover, but Shamarko Thomas knocked the ball loose, and Robert Golden recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown and a 30-13 Steelers lead.
Grade: A+
Coaching
9 of 10
Apparently the coaching staff couldn't fix all the Steelers' problems in the 10 days since their loss at Baltimore.
The Steelers won despite another rash of penalties. They were flagged 11 times for 91 yards. The first of those penalties was for having 12 men in the huddle on their first drive, and the Steelers also had to burn a timeout on that possession. That suggests that not everyone was on the same page early in the game.
Any halftime adjustments made appeared to work. They Steelers turned a 9-3 halftime lead into a 23-6 advantage after three quarters. And they forced both of their turnovers in the second half.
Grade: B
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Overall Grade |
| QB | A |
| RB | A+ |
| WR/TE | A |
| OL | A |
| DL | A |
| LB | A |
| DB | B+ |
| ST | A+ |
| Coaching | B |
| Cumulative Grade | A |
The only caveat from this performance is that the Panthers were without DeAngelo Williams, their top running back, and wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery.
On the other hand, the Steelers might have dominated this game even more if it weren't for the penalties. And they had their share of injuries in the second half.
The bottom line is that this was an impressive road win against a quality opponent, and the Steelers did not look like an 8-8 team on Sunday night.
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