Steelers “Studs and Duds” from Week 8 Against the Ravens
Steel City Underground’s “Studs and Duds” takes a look at the winners and losers from each of the Pittsburgh Steelers games during the 2020 season. Check with us after every game each week for our list, and to also see who climbed, or fell, down the rankings.
Studs
Robert Spillane
Linebacker Robert Spillane followed up his strong audition against the Titans, filling in for the injured Devin Bush, with a spectacular performance in the Steelers’ 28-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
He lead the team in tackles with 11, and played with the physicality that Steelers-Ravens games are known for. But most importantly, he scored the first touchdown of the game for the Steelers with a “pick six,” and dove on a Lamar Jackson fumble on a 4th-and-3 on the Ravens’ second to last drive of the game.
T.J. Watt
It should come as no surprise for Steelers fans to see T.J. Watt on this list. He’s been arguably the most consistent player on the Steelers roster the last two seasons and had another unbelievable game against the Ravens.
He lived in Baltimore’s backfield all game, checking Lamar Jackson often in the running game, picking up 1 sack, and forcing multiple incomplete passes on pressures.
Juju Smith-Schuster
Wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster had a solid game against the Ravens, catching 7 passes for 67 yards. Juju came up clutch late in the 4th quarter, catching 4 passes on the Steelers’ game-winning touchdown drive, and fighting for every inch on two 3rd-down conversions on the drive.
Alex Highsmith
Rookie 3rd round pick Alex Highsmith played limited snaps against the Ravens, coming in occasionally to give Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt a break. But he played well whenever he was on the field, and came through with a huge interception that set the Steelers’ offense up on the Ravens 20 yard line early in the 3rd quarter. He also stuffed Lamar Jackson on the goal line in the first half.
Ben Roethlisberger
It wasn’t a clean game for Ben Roethlisberger by any means. He had a terrible first half, completing only 4 of 10 passes for 24 yards and scoring 0 points on offense. To be fair, the Steelers never had good starting field position in the first half and he had a few receivers drop easy passes.
But “Big Ben” showed resilience and battled back in the 2nd half, completing 17 of 22 passes for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. He lead a long touchdown drive to give the Steelers the lead late in the 3rd quarter and a game winning drive late in the 4th quarter to secure the victory over Baltimore.
Joe Haden
Cornerback Joe Haden had another strong game locking down his matchups against the Ravens. He made a few plays against the run as well and nearly came down with a heroic interception at the end of the first half.
Minkah Fitzpatrick
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick didn’t make one of his “splash plays” that’s he’s known for, but he did his job in this game. He made a few potentially touchdown saving tackles on busted coverages and long runs from Ravens running backs that broke through into the secondary.
He also came up clutch in the 4th quarter, helping Vince Williams bring down Lamar Jackson on a 4th-and-3 play from the Steelers’ 6 yard line on the Ravens’ second to last possession of the game. He made another potentially touchdown saving play, batting down a pass in the end zone on the final play of the game.
Duds
Diontae Johnson
There were some up and down performances against the Ravens but there really weren’t any duds from individual players. Diontae Johnson had a quiet afternoon though, catching 1 pass for 6 yards and just never getting on the same page with Ben Roethlisberger.
To be fair, he did come into the game with a toe injury and went down with another minor injury during the game that he was playing through.
