Steelers “Studs and Duds” from Week 3 against the 49ers
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.
Another week, another disappointing loss.
The 2019 Pittsburgh Steelers were not supposed to end up this way. Yet, after three weeks of football, here we are: the Steelers sit at 0-3 and as per the usual column I write following the game, there are positives and negatives.
In particular this time around, I have a few scapegoats to point out in Pittsburgh’s 24-20 loss to San Francisco on Sunday afternoon. Here are my “Studs and Duds” from Week 3.
Studs
Minkah Fitzpatrick
Who better to headline the “studs” portion of this column than Fitzpatrick, who entered his first-ever game as a Pittsburgh Steeler (following a trade earlier this week with the Dolphins) only to force a fumble and pick off a Jimmy Garappolo pass.
“Instant Impact” doesn’t quite feel right to label his addition to the team; in fact, it’s an understatement.
T.J. Watt
Add a fumble recovery in a critical moment and a pick for Watt as well, who scooped up the game’s first turnover.
Watt quietly got to Garappolo twice too, while also forcing two more passes defensed. He was a monster in every sense of the word.
Devin Bush
The rookie led the Steelers defense with 11 combined tackles and also had the awareness to snag two lost balls, recovering each fumble for a San Francisco turnover.
Mason Rudolph
This one may be a bit more controversial to add here, but for those of us who remember bad quarterback play throughout the 80’s and also a large portion of Bill Cowher’s tenue as head coach in the 90’s and early 2000’s, Mason Rudolph appears to have the goods.
For making his first-ever start there were obvious quirks, but not enough to remotely list him as a “dud”. He often stood tall in the pocket and even when pressure was present, found a way to not lose yards.
He mostly protected the football too, with the exception of an ill-advised interception: which is part of the game of course. (Anyone remember last year’s league leader?)
Rudolph’s two touchdown passes kept the Steelers in the game. It’s unfortunate that he wasn’t given more freedom earlier in the game to help put up points, but again, I can only fault the play-calling, not the player in this case.
This week, regardless of outcome, was a big game for Mason. He’s a stud.
Stephon Tuitt
Tuitt continues to be disruptive upfront and was the only Steelers defender to officially register a sack on the day.
Steven Nelson
It was a quiet day for Nelson, who was stuck opponents like that gummy substance you rub off of gift cards.
He didn’t register much as far as stats, but that’s because he wasn’t allowing his men to get open for most of the afternoon, including several instances where he matched up with George Kittle.
Jordan Berry
I’m not sure how often punters show up as making an impact, but in a game that was a field position battle, Berry was way above the mark when it came to keeping the Steelers in it.
His six punts averaged 52.5 yards, but that’s deceiving without context. He had punts of 55, 53, 60, 41 (attempting to pin the Niners short; touchback), 59 and 46 yards; the latter with a five-yard return out to the 49ers 20-yard line, so that too doesn’t show on the stat sheet, but wow did Berry have a day.
Following a summer where many were uncertain of his future as a Steeler, his performance was that of a higher level pro punter.
Duds
James Conner
I know this may be sacrilege to disparage the name of James Conner, but he didn’t have the best of games.
I also know I gave Mason Rudolph a pass due to play-calling, but unfortunately I can’t do the same here with Conner because this isn’t his first rodeo: more specifically, it’s not the first time he’s given up the ball at a critical moment in a game which ends in a the Steelers not coming away with a victory.
It happened in Week 1 last year in a tie with Cleveland, and again in a loss at Denver in 2018.
On Sunday, his costly fumble led to the 49ers’ game-winning touchdown.
If this continues to be a consistent thing with Conner, it will be a one-way ticket out of the NFL.
Mark Barron
I’m seemingly as lost as to what’s going on with Barron as he appears to be at times in pass coverage.
There were several plays, including covering underneath on the Niners game-winning touchdown catch, where he looked as if he were out of position. (It also didn’t help matters that his holding penalty gave the 49ers a new set of downs leading into that play, rather than forcing a 4th down decision that could’ve aided a different end result.)
And there may be a reason for that too: Barron was also playing in place of an injured Vince Williams. He was initially penciled in to play next to Williams, a co-starter with rookie Devin Bush. However, the injury to Williams forced both Bush and Barron next to each other.
Is it a sign of miscommunication or something else? I’m not sure, but whatever be the case, Barron was not good this Sunday.
