Steelers vs. Rams: Pittsburgh Grades, Notes and Quotes

What started out as a promising game for the Pittsburgh Steelers took a turn for the worse with about five minutes left in the third quarter of their eventual 12-6 win over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

Star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tried to step up in the pocket to avoid a blitzing Mark Barron, but the Rams safety stumbled into Roethlisberger's knee, forcing it unnaturally inward as the 33-year-old signal-caller fell to the ground immediately, clutching his knee. 

The 12th-year veteran was forced to leave the game with a knee injury and was spotted after the game leaving the stadium on crutches with a heavy knee brace on his left knee.

While the Steelers did pick up a much-needed 12-6 win over the Rams, moving them to 2-1, the biggest storyline out of this game is the long-term prognosis of Roethlisberger's injury. If he's done for the year, you can likely kiss the Steelers' playoffs hopes goodbye, but the team remains hopeful his ACL is still intact.

Prior to the injury, Roethlisberger and the offense looked average for the most part—outside of the first two  drives in which they marched right down the field behind a quick-hitting passing game.

Looking to keep the Rams pass rush off balance and away from Roethlisberger, the Steelers deployed their trademark dink-and-dunk offense under offensive coordinator Todd Haley, moving the ball down the field with relative ease by utilizing the middle of the field with crossing routes, quick slants, delays out of the backfield to Le'Veon Bell—who shook off the rust with a big performance in his first game back from suspension—and quick-hitting curls to Antonio Brown.

The longest play on the opening drive, which covered 77 yards in 13 plays, was a 20-yard one-handed catch on a crossing route by Bell out of the backfield.

After forcing a Rams punt on their first offensive drive, the Steelers took over at their own 8-yard line and then marched 92 yards in 12 plays for the first touchdown of the game—a Bell one-yard plunge—to give the Steelers a 9-0 lead. The two-point conversion failed. 

Brown came up big on the drive, hauling in three passes for 50 yards to help move the Steelers down the field. Bell added a run of 19 yards as the Steelers picked up yards in chunks early on against the Rams. The sixth-year receiver was unstoppable in the first half, as St. Louis couldn't roll enough coverage to his side of the field.

From there, both offenses couldn't get much going, as the teams would head into the half with the Steelers up 9-3.

Then, midway through the third quarter, disaster struck for the Steelers as Roethlisberger went down in a heap as Barron rushed free on a delayed blitz from the left side.

In the second half the Steelers offensive line had a rough time trying to block the Rams' fearsome defensive line, resulting in heavy pressure on Roethlisberger and Michael Vick after the 15-year veteran took over for the injured starter.

Kelvin Beachum, Ramon Foster and Cody Wallace struggled with protection and communication, resulting in free lanes to the quarterback.

Beachum struggled all day with All-Pro defensive end Robert Quinn and outside linebacker Alec Ogletree in pass protection, continuing to drop his value as a top-tier left tackle.

With its quarterback injured and Vick struggling to get going, it was the young Steelers defense that stepped up to seal the win, with the help of a few veterans.

St. Louis threatened to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, but a bad throw by Nick Foles resulted in an interception by Will Allen. Pittsburgh kept the clock running by keeping the ball on the ground on its way to a field goal, pushing the lead to 12-6, which would be the final score.

On a day when the offense struggled late, the defense saved the day, playing a large role in picking up the Steelers' second win of the season.

Despite the win, morale is likely low in the locker room as the team awaits word on Roethlisberger, who is set for an MRI on Monday, according to Pittsburgh.

Position Grades

Associated Press

Position         Grades

QB                     B-

RB                     B

WR                    B

TE                     B+

OL                     C-

DL                     A

LB                     B+

DB                    B-

Special Teams   B

Coaching           B-

Ben Roethlisberger looked good for the most part up until the injury, as he routinely found Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell in space, allowing his playmakers to run after the catch. His accuracy was again outstanding, as he rarely missed with throws, but he did throw a bad pick to Janoris Jenkins on a go-route that was never there from the start of the play.

Once Roethlisberger went down, the offense struggled to do much through the air, even though Vick went 5-of-6 for 38 yards in relief. Vick's timing with his receivers was lacking and for good reason. He'll have to correct that moving forward if Pittsburgh wants to remain competitive. 

Making his 2015 debut, Le'Veon Bell looked tremendous running the ball and catching it out of the backfield, racking up 132 total yards and a touchdown on 26 touches.

Surprisingly, running back DeAngelo Williams received just one touch in the win. With Roethlisberger out for the time being, those touches should go back up for Williams, as the Steelers will rely heavily on the ground game.

Antonio Brown once again continued to be unguardable. It doesn't matter who lines up across the ball from him; you can pencil him in for five catches and at least 70 yards receiving—which he's done in 21 straight games (35 straight games of five catches for 50 yards). He went quiet in the second half once Vick took over, but it was no fault of his own.   

Heath Miller once again provided big catches in the middle of the field, finishing with two catches for 17 yards, including one to put the Steelers in a goal-to-go situation. With his two catches, Miller joined Hines Ward as the only Steeler to record at least one catch in 100 consecutive games in the team's history.

Disappointingly, the Steelers offensive line struggled to open up holes consistently for the running game and failed to protect the quarterbacks, allowing five sacks in the win. Beachum, Foster and Wallace were the main culprits. They'll have to be much better than they were today moving forward.

Defensively, Stephon Tuitt continues to create problems for opposing offenses, recording a sack for his second straight game with one. He's become a force in the front seven, especially against the run when he zips into the backfield to bring the ball-carrier down. It's been a long time since the Steelers had such explosive defensive ends, but Tuitt and Heyward are becoming quite the duo on the defensive line.

Jarvis Jones, Arthur Moats, James Harrison and Bud Dupree did a nice job of setting the edge against the run, bottling up the Rams' running game. Jones especially was a standout against the run, consistently working toward the ball and keeping good containment against cutbacks. Sunday was a positive step forward for the 25-year-old.

Will Allen came up with a big interception and recorded seven tackles in the win, continuing to be a standout on a young Steelers defense. He's easily its best safety, and he was once again against St. Louis.

The good news for Pittsburgh is that Josh Scobee nailed both field goals, none bigger than the 41-yarder with just over two minutes left in the game to seal the win.

Tuitt Starts 1st Sack Streak

Getty Images

With a sack on the first defensive series of the game, Stephon Tuitt started his first sack streak of his career, adding onto the 1.5 sacks he recorded in Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers.

Tuitt also established a career high of six tackles in the win over the Rams as he was a menace in the backfield for most of the game.

With his impressive burst, hand usage and strength in the trenches, Tuitt (6'6", 303 lbs) is quickly proving his value to this defense. He has the looks of a franchise cornerstone on the defensive side of the ball.

It showed again on Sunday.

Brown Extends Streak with Monster 1st Half

Joshua Lindsey/USA Today Sports

Once again, Antonio Brown extended his streak of five catches for 50 yards. The streak now stands at 35 games thanks to a huge first half in which the sixth-year receiver hauled in nine passes, tying former Steeler receiver Hines Ward for the most catches in a half in Steelers history.

Ward did it against the Cincinnati Bengals on November 30, 2003.

Brown finished with 11 catches for 108 yards in the win, giving him 29 catches for 436 yards and two touchdowns in the first three games of the season. His 436 receiving yards are the fourth most in NFL history through three games dating back to 1960.

He can't be stopped.

Bell Shakes off Rust

Associated Press

Boy, did Le'Veon Bell come up big today or what?

Making his 2015 debut, Bell racked up 132 total yards on 26 touches and added the only touchdown of the day for the Steelers.

Not once did Bell show rust in the win, showcasing his explosion, vision and big-play ability all over the field against St. Louis.

Although the Steelers struggled to run the ball against the Rams, the ability to get Bell the ball in space proved valuable, highlighted by the 20-yard absurd one-handed catch across the middle, which beat Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis in coverage.

The Steelers needed a big performance from Bell in this one. He delivered—and then some—today.

Steelers Holding Out Hope for Roethlisberger

Josh Lindsey/USA Today Sports

Following the win over the Rams, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin remained mum on the status of Ben Roethlisberger.

"

"Ben is being evaluated, and will have an MRI." [@CoachTomlin]

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 27, 2015"

An MRI is never good news for your star quarterback, especially when it comes to a knee injury. However, ESPN's Adam Schefter said the organization remains hopeful Roethlisberger's ACL remains intact.

"

Ben Roethlisberger expected to miss at least 4 weeks with knee injury, source tells ESPN. He will undergo an MRI Monday; hoping ACL intact.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 27, 2015"

The next four weeks aren't promising for Pittsburgh, which plays the toughest schedule in the NFL this season.

Having a short week before hosting the Baltimore Ravens (0-3) for Thursday Night Football will do no favors for the Steelers. After that, Pittsburgh travels to San Diego to face the Chargers on Monday Night Football before coming back to Heinz Field to host the Arizona Cardinals. Then the Steelers travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs.

Pittsburgh could be staring at 2-5 after that stretch of at least four games without Ben Roethlisberger.