Studs and Duds takes a look at the winners and losers from each of the Pittsburgh Steelers games during the 2019 season. Check with us after every game each week for our list, and to also see who climbed, or fell, down the rankings.

With a 33-3 drubbing by the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football, there were few (if any) positive takeaways from the Steelers side of things. I had to dig, but I may have found a stud or two buried within a long list of duds… far too many to list here!

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Studs

Offensive Line

The Steelers offensive line kept Ben Roethlisberger mostly upright and untouched, with lots of time to attempt to make plays on Sunday.

There were the few snafus, including penalties (one major one listed below) that has to be mentioned, but I felt as if they did their job to the best of their ability and will be a fine unit as the 2019 season continues.

Jordan Berry

Berry punted the ball five times, averaging 45.6 yards per punt with a 58-yard long. Two of those kicks landed within the 20-yard line with none going for a touchback.

It was about the only bright spot on the evening, as Berry had an up-and-down 2018 season and had to fight for his job during the preseason. His kicks were possibly the only thing that went right in a game that had a lot more go wrong.

James Conner

At one point during the game Conner was leading the Steelers in receiving, which is the main problem in the game. I can’t fault Conner for much of anything else, as playcalling took the ball out of his hands in the running game, and even doomed him to a negative four-yard gain when the offense ran the same exact play back-to-back, where the Patriots defense snuffed it out.

Why the Steelers abandoned the running game, and Conner only had ten rushes total, is something I cannot comprehend.

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Duds

Kameron Kelly

It was his first start in the NFL, an unexpected one when Sean Davis went down, and a tough assignment against the defending World Champions.

However, it was headlined by a couple of big Patriots plays where the Steelers were either looking for safety help, or someone else in the secondary (cough, Mike Hilton) blew an assignment and/or didn’t communicate with Kelly.

Randy Fichtner

The Steelers offensive coordinator blew it big time in my opinion. The team panicked too early by getting away from the running game and forcing a lot of unnecessary downfield throws that were far from being executed to perfection.

I could also place blame on receivers and Ben Roethlisberger, who didn’t appear to be sharp on the surface but may have been on the wrong page with his newest receivers running the wrong route: something we wouldn’t know without being on the sideline.

Regardless, it’s Fichtner who calls the plays, and totally caved to the madness that was the back-to-back pitch play. A 4^th-and-1 pass, and another goal line opportunity where we didn’t see multiple tight ends, an extra lineman or fullback Roosevelt Nix (who didn’t appear on offense for even a single play) were squandered in lieu of four-receiver sets and empty backfields.

Even the double-headed monster, old school “pro set”, splitting Conner and Jaylen Samuels in the backfield was only seen once or twice the entire evening.

That’s about all the more creative the playcalling got. It has to get better.

Donte Moncrief

I feel bad for Moncrief, who couldn’t remain strong with the ball and either failed to secure passes, or had the football otherwise slapped away by Patriots defenders multiple times throughout the evening.

It was an awful debut that didn’t instill any confidence in the veteran wide receiver. Despite being targeted ten times, he only caught three passes for a total of seven yards.

The Front Seven

I could pick on Bud Dupree getting manhandled Isaiah Wynn all evening, but truth be told, the entire front seven wasn’t all that spectacular in causing pressure or preventing third downs.

While Dupree had his hands full, T.J. Watt did too: yes he was doubled most of the evening, but what premiere pass rusher isn’t?

Aside from that take, we saw flashes from Stephon Tuitt (who murdered Dupree on one play where he missed a Patriots runner) and also from Javon Hargrave who had a nice bull rush but that was about it for the rest of the night.

Cameron Heyward, the unit’s captain who has had 20 sacks in the last two seasons combined, was also quiet.

Vince Williams, Devin Bush, and Mark Barron didn’t contribute as much to the bottom line either in terms of splash plays, and in coverage, Bush and Barron each had their share of mistakes.

I felt the defense also deserves praise in some spots, as they forced a clutch 3-and-out in the second quarter, plus held the Patriots to only field goals in other critical moments, but overall they were setup for failure by the Steelers offense, which failed to put together any meaningful drives to help keep New England’s offense from getting the ball back.

Vance McDonald

Finally, where was McDonald all evening?

With two garbage time receptions on the game’s final drive, McDonald wasn’t targeted at all until the Steelers final drive, which began with 2:06 remaining in the game.

Does the blame rest on him for not getting open?

I honestly thought he wasn’t in the game often, but upon looking at the game book, McDonald played 71% of the Steelers 69 offensive plays. It’s criminal he wasn’t involved in the offense any earlier in the game. I’m not sure if he was a casualty of playcalling or what, but it certainly wasn’t a good look for a player expected to dominate at his position this season.