Steelers’ “Studs and Duds” from Week 14 against the Bills
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
Cameron Heyward
Defensive end Cam Heyward was the best player on the field for the Steelers in their 23-15 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Though he never recorded a sack, he looked un-guardable in the first half, wreaking havoc on the interior of the Bills’ offensive line.
He also forced Josh Allen to throw an interception early in 1st quarter by hitting him as he threw it, and nearly forced a fumble later in the game as well. The Bills did make some adjustments at half time to help neutralize Heyward, and he was not as productive in the 2nd half, but Cam had a tremendous game nonetheless.
Cameron Sutton
With Joe Haden unavailable, cornerback Cameron Sutton was forced into a starting role for the Steelers, and he mostly answered the call. He played one of the best halves of football in his career in the 1st half, shutting down every receiver he matched up against.
He forced incomplete passes on just about every play that the Bills targeted him on in the first half, and he came away with two opportunistic turnovers in the first half as well. However, like the rest of the Steelers’ defense, Sutton’s play did fall off a bit in the 2nd half.
Mike Hilton
Similar to Cam Sutton, cornerback Mike Hilton also played a phenomenal first half against the Bills. Hilton continues to shine as a versatile playmaker for the Steelers’ defense, and his performance against the Bills was no exception. He made several tackles that went for a loss or minimal gain that forced the Bills into longer 3rd downs.
He forced a fumble on a tight end, Dawson Knox, that Cam Sutton recovered in the first half. He also made an impressive pass breakup on a tight end in the red zone who had a significant size advantage over him.
Hilton did commit a pivotal deep pass interference penalty in the 4th quarter that essentially put the game out of reach for the Steelers, but, outside of that, he had one of his better performances of the season.
Juju Smith-Schuster
The Steelers’ offense as a whole was out of sync and unproductive, to say the least, but wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster had a solid game against the Bills.
It was not a huge performance for Juju, but he made a few noteworthy plays in the 2nd half, such as running through a Bills’ defender to set the Steelers’ offense up inside the 5-yard line.
He also caught a touchdown pass in the 4th quarter that briefly got the Steelers back into the game by closing the Bills’ lead to just 8 points.
Duds
Diontae Johnson
It was another rough week for wide receiver Diontae Johnson. He made electric plays whenever he got the ball in his hands, but, unfortunately, he struggled to catch the football yet again. After dropping at least two easy completions early in the game, the Steelers’ coaching staff benched him until the 4th quarter.
On the bright side, when he did get back on the field in the 4th quarter, he made multiple plays for the Steelers’ offense that had struggled to move the football up until that point. Hopefully, he can build off of his performance at the end of the game.
Ben Roethlisberger
“Big Ben” did not have a good game against the Bills, completing 21 of 37 pass attempts for 187 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.
Ben did get the Steelers back into the game with a 4th quarter touchdown pass that brought them within one score, but his pick-six at the end of the first half gave the Bills the lead going into halftime and completely changed the momentum of the game.
The Running Game
The Steelers continue to fail, as a team, to run the ball effectively. They performed better on the ground against Buffalo than they had in previous weeks, but they still finished the game rushing for just 2.8 yards per carry.
To be fair, they did suffer multiple injuries on the offensive line in the game, and Maurkice Pouncey and James Conner were making their first starts in several weeks after being placed on the Covid-IR list, but the team still struggled to get anything going on the ground against the Bills.
