Steelers Week 10: Winners and Losers
If every Steelers game would be like this massacre they administered to the Panthers on Thursday night, there would be no stress in my life. Though the Panthers struck first – marching the ball down for a Christian McCaffrey score – the Steelers answered with a 75-yard touchdown to JuJu Smith-Schuster. From there, the Steelers never looked back as they blew out Carolina 52-21. Here are my winners and losers for Steelers match up against the Panthers:
Winners
Ben was perfect in this game – no, literally perfect. He posted a perfect passer rating (158.3) for the fourth time in his NFL career. Ben completed an astounding 22 of 25 passes for 328 yards and 5 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. Needless to say, if Roethlisberger plays like this, there’s not a team out there that can beet them.
Offensive Line
Though Ben took one sack on the night, he was again nearly untouched. The offensive line was fantastic. Helping Ben to one of the best performances of his career and paved the way for 138 rushing yards for the run game. David DeCastro even got a little chippy after Ben nearly got his head taken off on a slide.
Antonio Brown/JuJu Smith-Schuster
AB and JuJu were rock-solid in this one. They got open with ease and did more than capitalize. Combined, they finished the night 9 of 11 in targets for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Randy Fichtner
It was a beautifully called and executed game by Fichtner. The new Steelers offensive coordinator has turned out to be everything we had hoped for, and the Steelers are better in the redzone and in scoring (31.0 points per game) than they have ever been under Todd Haley.
Cam Heyward
Heyward was a force to be reckoned with in this game. He was completely dominant – tearing through the offensive line and forcing Cam Newton to leave early. He racked up a pair of sacks Thursday night.
It wasn’t the flashiest performance he’s ever had with the Steelers, but Vance was carving holes in the run game and caught all 4 of his targets for 44 yards and a score. He’s certainly fun to watch with the ball in his hands.
The Steelers starting edge group was dominant from start to finish in this contest. Watt provided the key pressure that would have resulted in a safety had Cam Newton not have thrown a terrible pass to the hands of Vince Williams. Dupree added a sack and a handful of pressures that made Cam uncomfortable early.
Haden was very quiet Thursday night, but that’s usually a good thing when it comes to cornerbacks. He was rarely targeted, but was the best player in their secondary against the Panthers in a game where the Steelers only allowed Cam to throw for 193 yards.
I know James Conner only played about half the game, but his value cannot be replaced. Conner left early with a possible concussion scare. In his absence, Steven Ridley and Jaylen Samuels rushed 13 times for 33 yards (2.5 yards per carry). Conner rushed 13 times for 65 yards (5.0 yards per carry). Conner is heads-and-shoulders the best option at the running back position on this team – even if Le’Veon were here.
Losers
I haven’t seen the numbers, but Sensabaugh clearly allowed the most receptions to Panther receivers Thursday night. There is an obvious hole in the secondary, and the Steelers really need someone to step up opposite of Joe Haden.
Defensive lapses
I know the first McCaffrey touchdown was Vince Williams’ fault, but the Panthers running back had another wide open touchdown off a defensive lapse later in the game. There are too many blown coverages and mental mistakes. The Steelers are legitimate contenders, but they need to cut down on plays like this.
