Pittsburgh Steelers Grade Out Poorly After Patriots Loss
I went to see Unstoppable this weekend, only this was not a movie with a runaway train starring Denzel Washington; it was Sunday night’s football game where the New England Patriots offense could not be stopped behind the star of the night, Tom Brady.
Bill Belichick was the evil genius as his team continued its mastery of the Steelers.
The final score of 39-26 does not even begin to show how Pittsburgh was dominated from the kickoff to the final whistle.
The Steelers were thoroughly outcoached, outplayed and completely outclassed against the Patriots.
Rather than taking control of the AFC North and the conference, Pittsburgh fell back to the pack and is showing many signs of weakness, beginning along their offensive line and pass defense.
Of a greater concern is how the injuries are piling up.
Pittsburgh’s starting tackles, Willie Colon and Max Starks, are both on injured reserve, left guard Chris Kemoeatu missed last night's game, defensive ends Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel both are missing significant action, linebacker James Harrison has back spasms, and Sunday night the Steelers lost wide receiver Hines Ward to a concussion and inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons to a hip pointer.
The players are falling and they are falling fast.
If they do not get healthy soon Pittsburgh may see another second-half collapse.
Quarterback: D-
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Sunday night was suppose to be a matchup between multiple Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, and looking at the stat page they put on a show.
Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger combined for over 700 passing yards, six touchdowns and one interception.
However, Roethlisberger’s statistics came mostly in garbage time in the fourth quarter while Brady worked over the Steelers defense throughout.
Roethlisberger was horrible early, though he did not have any help from his offensive line or receivers, completing only 7-of-20 passes.
Though he finished 30-of-49 for 387 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, Roethlisberger was off, missing his receivers and also threw a pick-six on a dropped pass.
To be successful behind a beat-up offensive line, Roethlisberger will have to take what the defense gives him and get the ball out quicker. The big play is not always what is best and he needs to play within a system, even the loose “system” that offensive coordinator Bruce Arians runs.
Season GPA: 2.17
Running Backs: C-
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Rashard Mendenhall was not given much of a chance to get going, finishing with only 50 yards on 11 carries, including a 34-yard run.
Mendenhall only had two receptions and completely missed a block that resulted in a sack of Roethlisberger.
Mewelde Moore did not add much on the ground but was outstanding as a receiver, when he caught all five passes that came his way for 79 yards and converted a two-point conversion out of the Wildcat formation in the fourth quarter.
While they did not have many opportunities, Pittsburgh’s running backs did not do enough on the ground.
Season GPA: 3.04
Wide Receivers: D
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Hines Ward’s consecutive games streak with a reception came to an end after he suffered a concussion on a non-penalized helmet-to-helmet hit.
It appeared as though Ward made the reception but with the silly reception rules that the NFL has, catching the ball with two feet on the ground is no longer enough to be considered a completion and the play was reversed.
That play was a microcosm of the Steelers’ night in which the receivers dropped a couple of potential touchdown passes and had at least eight drops on the night.
Antwaan Randle El, Emmanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace all added to the drop party.
Randle El padded his stats in the fourth quarter and while Sanders flashed some potential, he also looked lost on several routes, though he did record his first touchdown reception.
Wallace had eight receptions for 136 receptions on the night and came up with two fourth-quarter touchdown receptions.
Despite putting up gaudy stats in the end, the receivers’ damage was done early as the Steelers were unable to keep up with New England’s high-octane offense.
Season GPA: 3.00
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Tight Ends: B-
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Heath Miller had his most productive day of the season, catching five balls for 60 yards.
These are the types of numbers Miller should be getting on a weekly basis, not on a night when Roethlisberger has to throw the ball nearly 50 times.
Season GPA: 3.08
Offensive Line: F
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Injuries or no injuries, Pittsburgh’s offensive line was dismal.
Even Maurkice Pouncey could not overcome the line’s deficiencies.
The left side of the line, with new starters Jonathan Scott and Ramon Foster, were no match for the Patriots’ defensive front.
A defense that only had 13 sacks all season added five alone against the Steelers.
Season GPA: 2.09
Defensive Line: F
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Pittsburgh’s defensive front was manhandled, allowing the Patriots to rush for 103 yards and a 4.3 yards per carry average.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis alone had 87 yards on only 18 carries and had a long of 17 yards.
These numbers were all season highs against Pittsburgh’s defense.
It was actually surprising that New England ran the ball at all, given its success in the passing game.
Part of the reason they were so successful in the air is that Pittsburgh got no pressure on Brady, in part because the defensive line got no push.
Ziggy Hood was very disappointing and has been all season, as he is demonstrating some of the qualities of why he did not look to be a good fit in the 3-4 defense.
Brett Keisel and Aaron Smith cannot get healthy soon enough.
Season GPA: 3.01
Linebackers: D
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James Harrison was slowed by back spasms, and none of the linebackers really showed anything special. This was one of the major reasons Pittsburgh could not stop the Patriots.
They had to pressure Brady and there was virtually none all night. The few times that they got near Brady, he rushed his throw for incompletions.
A few times is not enough though.
Once again the Steelers linebackers came to play.
Season GPA: 2.96
Defensive Backs: F
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Bryant McFadden giving Deion Branch a 10-yard cushion said it all.
Beyond Ike Taylor, the Steelers pass defense was shredded with William Gay and McFadden being attacked all night.
Pittsburgh allowed rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski to score three touchdowns in front of his hometown; Gronkowski played high school football at Woodland Hills.
Brady easily completed 30 of 43 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns.
Season GPA: 1.85
Special Teams: D-
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The return game was only average and Daniel Sepulveda’s punting could not make up for a couple of special teams miscues.
One was an illegal touch by Keenan Lewis after a punt—an inexcusable penalty.
The low light of the night was Jeff Reed missing a 26-yard field goal attempt—a new low for the struggling Reed.
After the game, Reed attacked the fans and blamed the field for his poor kick.
Season GPA: 2.74
Coaching: F
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After watching the second play of the game I knew that the Steelers stood no chance.
Pittsburgh lined up in a five-wide, empty-backfield set. That was the signal that they were not going to attempt to establish the run.
In typical Arians fashion, the Steelers tried to force balls down field with Roethlisberger playing behind a makeshift offensive line and an attacking Patriots defense.
There is not much more to say about how poor the offensive game plan was against a low-ranked defense.
The defense was not any better.
Once again Brady had no issues with the Steelers defense and at times looked like he could fall asleep given all the time that he had.
The only way to disrupt Brady is to get pressure on him but the Steelers felt they could get away without any.
Dick LeBeau sent only three or four rushers and it obviously was not working, yet they continued to play this passive style.
With Mike Tomlin running the show, he needs to get his game plan in gear because what Belichick did to him was embarrassing.
Belichick exposed the Steelers' every weakness, and Tomlin’s Steelers played right into the Patriots hands.
Season GPA: 2.43
Study Up: What Must Improve
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