Biggest Takeaways from Pittsburgh Steelers' Week 6 Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers bested the visiting Arizona Cardinals in Week 6, with a 25-13 victory propelling Pittsburgh to a 4-2 record. This game seemed poised to pose a major challenge for the Steelers. Prior to Sunday, the Cardinals had lost only one game and boasted not just a talented defense but also the highest-scoring offense in the NFL.

But the Steelers managed to prevail in a big way. Here are the top takeaways from the Steelers' surprising dispatching of the Cardinals on Sunday. 

The Quarterback Change

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Before Steelers quarterback Mike Vick suffered a third-quarter hamstring injury that took him out of the game, he wasn't having a good performance. Vick completed just three of his eight pass attempts against the Cardinals for six total yards. He also took one sack.

Jones, who spent the last two seasons as the Steelers' third-stringer and who had never dressed for a regular-season game until starter Ben Roethlisberger suffered a Week 3 knee injury, unexpectedly provided a spark for Pittsburgh's offense.

Jones completed eight of his 12 passing attempts for 168 yards and two scores. He was not sacked once, nor did he turn the ball over. It was a marked difference from the Jones seen in preseason and training camp over the years. He's struggled for the majority of his professional career, even when protected by a first-team offensive line or when taking on third-string defenses.

But Jones has one advantage over Vick—three years of familiarity with the Steelers' offensive system and the players tasked with running it. That level of comfort was one major reason why Jones fared so much better than Vick on Sunday, and his performance will likely result in him being Pittsburgh's starter until Roethlisberger makes his return.

The Martavis Bryant Factor

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Steelers receiver Martavis Bryant made his regular-season debut on Sunday after serving a four-game suspension to start the season and sitting out the team's Week 5 contest against the San Diego Chargers. And it was Bryant who helped quarterback Landry Jones have such a big day once he took over for Mike Vick in the third quarter.

Prior to Jones coming in, Bryant had caught two Vick passes on two targets for eight yards. But Jones knew that the big and fast Bryant would be a big help to him in his regular-season debut, and Bryant did not disappoint.

With Jones' help, Bryant ended the day with six catches on eight targets for 137 yards and two touchdowns. One was an eight-yard score, and the other, an 88-yard catch-and-run that sealed Pittsburgh's victory late in the game. 

Last year, Bryant caught only 26 passes on 49 targets, but he turned that into 549 yards of offense and eight touchdowns. And he seems to be picking up where he left off, at least based on his second-half performance with Jones on Sunday. Stretching the field has just become that much easier for the Steelers with Bryant back in the fold. 

Celebrating the Defense

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What Pittsburgh's defense accomplished on Sunday cannot be understated. Coming into Week 6, the Cardinals were the NFL's highest-scoring team, averaging 38 points per game. Though the Steelers had routinely limited their opponents to 20 or fewer points this year, Arizona's offense was going to be a major test for Pittsburgh's rapidly improving defense.

And the defense surely delivered on Sunday. The Cardinals only scored 13 points—one touchdown and two field goals—despite Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer throwing for 421 yards.

While Cardinals receivers John Brown and Larry Fitzgerald had 196 and 93 receiving yards, respectively, neither reached the end zone. Pittsburgh's defense also picked Palmer off twice, the second of which set up Martavis Bryant's 88-yard touchdown.

While Palmer was sacked once, by Steelers linebacker James Harrison, the defense hit him a total of seven times on Sunday, making his life that much more difficult. And Pittsburgh's run defense also had a strong showing, allowing a mere 55 rushing yards on 20 combined Cardinals attempts.

For everything that quarterback Landry Jones did to lift the Steelers offense late in the game, the defense deserves credit for keeping the team in the contest from the beginning.

A bend-but-don't-break approach combined with aggression up front (and aggressive pursuit of the football, leading to turnovers) has been the formula for Pittsburgh's defensive success this year. And it was very much on display when the Steelers defense held the Cardinals offense in check in Week 6.

Finally: A Kicker

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When it comes to the kicker position, the fourth time appears to be the charm for the Steelers. After losing first Shaun Suisham and then Garrett Hartley to season-ending injuries in the preseason and briefly turning to the struggling Josh Scobee, it looks like Chris Boswell is destined to hold onto the Steelers' kicking job for the remainder of the year.

Boswell took the field on Sunday for his second game with the Steelers and did something a Pittsburgh kicker has never done before: He made three field goals of at least 47 yards in one game. He hit a 47-yarder, a 48-yarder and a 51-yarder along with an extra point against Arizona. 

This feat is even more extraordinary given the venue. Heinz Field is not a place where kickers routinely have success, especially in long attempts like Boswell's on Sunday. To say Boswell has a leg is an understatement.

So far this year, Boswell has made all five of his field-goal attempts and all four of his extra-point tries. In a season in which kickers are struggling to do both routinely (something the Steelers know all too well), Boswell's accuracy, clutch kicks and ability to convert long field goals in a tough environment make him a clear asset for this team this year.

Antonio Brown Is Frustrated

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The switch from Mike Vick to Landry Jones at quarterback didn't do Steelers receiver Antonio Brown any favors. Yet again, he was held to low yardage and zero touchdowns, a common occurrence for the NFL's top receiver from 2014 in the weeks that Ben Roethlisberger has been sidelined with a knee injury.

In the first half, Brown had only one catch for minus-two yards on three targets, and he ended the day with just three catches on eight targets for 24 yards. Brown also appeared to be visibly frustrated with Jones after he threw a pass (with tight end Heath Miller also in the area) that hit him on the foot.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin isn't worried about Brown's stat line right now, saying via the NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala on Sunday that all that matters is Brown's involvement in getting the Steelers another Super Bowl championship, not his individual numbers.

On Monday, Brown also confirmed that it was "just frustration" about the poor pass that saw him confront Jones and that he's simply passionate about the game, not angry with his quarterback. Still, it cannot feel good that he has just 11 catches for 111 yards and no scores through his last three games.

It's possible that another week with Jones under center could see Brown's numbers rise in Week 7. But it looks like Brown will have to wait for the return of Roethlisberger to get back to where he wants to be.