Winners and Losers of Pittsburgh Steelers' Week 5 Performance
The Pittsburgh Steelers were bested by the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5, the 30-9 loss dropping the Steelers to 3-2 on the season and making the entire team look in the mirror, wondering what they did to help or hurt.
Luckily, we're here to help hold that mirror. Here are the winners and losers of the Steelers' Week 5 loss—an examination of the players who helped and the players who hurt the team in what ultimately was a disappointing home-field effort.
Winner: Pass Defense
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There wasn't much to like about the Steelers' all-around performance on Sunday, but at the very least the defense cannot say they were roasted by Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles. Pittsburgh limited Bortles to 95 passing yards and an interception, sacking him twice. The Steelers also limited the Jaguars' offensive coaching staff to allowing Bortles to attempt only 14 passes on the day, eight of which he completed.
Though Jacksonville has found other ways to minimize Bortles' weaknesses and highlight the other strengths along the roster, the Steelers still played their part and complied with the idea that Bortles is a less-than-capable quarterback. Of Bortles' 95 yards, 31 was gained on just one play, a completion to receiver Marqise Lee. And beyond the lone sack, he was also hit five times by Pittsburgh defenders.
On an embarrassing day that exposed the Steelers' myriad weaknesses, they at least did not allow Bortles to contribute much to the collapse.
Loser: Run Defense
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The Steelers knew going into Week 5 that the Jaguars were going to center their offensive game plan around the run, but yet there was little the team could do to stop it.
Jacksonville ended the day with 37 team rushes for 231 yards and two scores, with 28 of those runs, 181 of the yards and both scores belonging to rookie running back Leonard Fournette. Additionally, Jacksonville ran the ball on 18 straight plays to close out the contest, culminating in a 90-yard breakaway touchdown run by Fournette with under two minutes to go.
The Steelers did the best they could to bottle up the Jacksonville run game, conceding just 59 yards on 18 carries in the first half. But the Jaguars did not relent, eating the clock and wearing down Pittsburgh's defense, ultimately leading to a win.
This isn't the first time the Steelers have faced a run-first offense and fell flat, also doing so in their Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears to the tune of 222 yards. Though the Steelers knew what was coming, they were unable to stop it, especially when the Jaguars themselves had no intention of taking their foot off of the run-game gas. It was a failure of both players and coaching that led to the Steelers finding themselves in this position yet again this season.
Winner: LB Ryan Shazier
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Even though the Steelers' defense struggled to stop the Jaguars' running game, linebacker Ryan Shazier was again an outstanding performer on that side of the ball. He totaled eight tackles, five of them solo, defensed a pass and also had an interception of Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles that led to a 34-yard Chris Boswell field goal.
Shazier has been proving all season that he is the new leader of Pittsburgh's defense. He's also their statistical leader, with 45 combined tackles and six passes defensed to go along with two fumbles forced and two interceptions.
There are a lot of players to blame for what happened on Heinz Field in Week 5, but Shazier is not one of them—something that can also be said for any other occasion in which Pittsburgh's defense has struggled this season.
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Loser: The Entire Offensive Strategy
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Coming into Week 5, the Jacksonville Jaguars' defense was the best in the league at defending the pass, giving up no more than 215 passing yards in a single game, totaling 18 sacks and five interceptions on opposing quarterbacks. At the same time, the defense was dead last in the league in stopping the run.
It seemed like an easy equation for a Steelers win—keep running the ball, particularly with Le'Veon Bell, pass sparingly and strategically so that Ben Roethlisberger could stay protected and, ostensibly, win. But the Steelers didn't want to take the path of least resistance and, thus, ended the day with a loss.
Pittsburgh had 371 yards of total offense, outgaining the Jaguars by nearly 60 yards. But only 70 of those yards were attained by running the ball, which the Steelers did just 20 times, with 15 carries for Bell (nine of which came in the first half). Instead, Roethlisberger attempted 55 passes on the day.
While some of that can be excused because of the Steelers constantly playing from behind, taking the traditional and conventional path of "run-when-ahead-pass-when-behind" was not the right tactic to employ. Yet, Roethlisberger, head coach Mike Tomlin and coordinator Todd Haley would not waver from the strategy, something which directly lead to a Steelers loss.
The Steelers must adapt to the situation they have found themselves in rather than employing a boilerplate and quickly expiring offensive strategy that only works on paper against a hypothetical opponent rather than the real one staring them down in the moment. They couldn't do it—much as they have failed to do so in the past—and it cost them dearly in Week 5.
Winner: Le'Veon Bell, the Receiver
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Though the Steelers didn't get the ball to running back Le'Veon Bell nearly enough on Sunday, they did manage to showcase his strength as a receiver. Ben Roethlisberger targeted Bell 10 times against Jacksonville, and Bell caught all 10, for 46 total yards. It thus put Bell's total touches at 25 on the day, therefore providing a veneer of effectiveness on a day that was anything but for Pittsburgh's offense.
Bell's targets and catches were both season-highs, as were his receiving yards. And his presence as a receiver helped take a modicum of pressure off of Roethlisberger, who was under duress by Jacksonville's defense all day and was thrown to the wolves by way of being tasked with—or choosing to take on—a 55-attempt passing workload.
With the Steelers turning away from the run almost entirely in the second half on Sunday, Bell still managed to have a role to play that gained Pittsburgh yards and took advantage of his varied skill set.
Loser: QB Ben Roethlisberger
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For the first time this season, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger surpassed 300 passing yards. And that's the only positive spin that can be placed on his performance against the Jaguars in Week 5.
Roethlisberger also hit another first—this time, throwing a career-high five interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns and two others that led off two more Jacksonville touchdown drives.
He was also sacked twice and hit five times, and despite his struggles, which spanned the entirety of the contest, he still took on the task of throwing the ball 55 times. That led to 33 completions for 312 yards, but none of that matters considering the enormity of the negative plays he was both directly and indirectly responsible for.
After the game, Roethlisberger lamented that he may not have "it" anymore and conceded that he is "not playing well enough." He's right at least on the last account, with the Steelers looking inconsistent on offense, particularly in the passing game, and Roethlisberger now taking his on-the-road struggles back to his home field.
Maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong and maybe his talk of retirement earlier this year has allowed creeping feelings of doubt to affect the way he plays the game. Regardless of the cause, though, there is no question that Roethlisberger's performance on Sunday was the worst of his 14-year career.
Winner: WR Antonio Brown
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Ben Roethlisberger should forever be thanking Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, head coach Mike Tomlin and the team's scouting department for uncovering the gem that is wide receiver Antonio Brown and selecting him in the 2010 NFL draft. And he should be thanking Brown for a third of what he contributed in a positive way on his terrible day in a terrible Week 5 loss on Sunday.
Brown caught 10 passes against Jacksonville and had 157 receiving yards in a contest in which no other Steelers' passing target had more than 58 yards. Roethlisberger threw his way 19 times. The only downside is that Brown could not get a touchdown this week; he has only one this season despite his 40 catches for 545 yards.
Roethlisberger has had a down year, but it would be far worse had he not a receiver with the talent level and reliability of Brown. Sunday's game against Jacksonville only further highlighted this fact.
Loser: Touchdowns in the Red Zone
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Three touchdowns would not have been enough for the Steelers to ultimately come away victorious on Sunday. However, their behavior in the red zone, had it led to touchdowns, may have changed the tenor of the game and the way the Jaguars were forced to react, thus leading—potentially—to another outcome on Sunday.
Pittsburgh saw itself with three scoring attempts in the red zone in Week 5—and in the red zone of their home stadium, at that. Nonetheless, all three ended in field goals and not touchdowns. While a testament to Jacksonville's defense, which after Sunday ranks second in points allowed this year and fifth in allowing touchdowns to their opponents in red-zone situations, this is also a Steelers offense that has numerous reasons to be productive in that part of the field.
Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell, Martavis Bryant, Jesse James, JuJu Smith-Schuster and even Vance McDonald or James Conner are all capable scoring threats, but nothing worked well enough on offense to lead the Steelers to scoring more than three points when given the opportunity.
Though it's not surprising that points were at a premium against a defense like Jacksonville's on Sunday, Pittsburgh was at home and found itself with touchdowns within their grasp. Instead, they settled for field goals, which helped contribute to an overall team loss.
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