The Pittsburgh Steelers looked much better in their Sunday night road win over the Carolina Panthers and after two passes back through the game rewind, here is just a small sampling of some winners and losers for you to discuss. Feel free to add your own in the comments below that you think I missed.
Winners:
Marcus Gilbert – Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said he expected Gilbert to bounce back like “Rocky” following his poor play against the Baltimore Ravens and the right tackle did just that Sunday night against the Panthers. Gilbert was not only great in the run blocking department Sunday night, he also held up very well in pass protection against a very good Panthers defensive front rotation.
Le’Veon Bell – Bell showed great vision, patience and short area quickness once again and his 147 yards rushing included a long of 81. Bell toyed with the Panthers linebackers at times and made them guess and miss more than once with their run fills.
Antonio Brown – Brown continues to be a weapon no matter how he is defended and where he is thrown to on the field. Another ten catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns for Brown on the evening. outside of an early holding call, Brown pretty much had a perfect game.
Lawrence Timmons – Like Gilbert, Timmons hasn’t had a great start to the season. Against the Panthers, however, he was all over the field and was a much more reliable tackler.
Cameron Heyward – Heyward harassed Panthers quarterback Cam Newton several times Sunday night and while he didn’t record a sack in the game, he did register a few hits that seemed to take their toll.
Losers:
Cortez Allen – After getting off to a decent start in the game, Allen went downhill quickly from there. He gave up at least eight catches Sunday night and a touchdown to Panthers tight end Greg Olsen. To make matters worse Allen was also flagged twice.
Cody Wallace – As expected, Wallace had his problems at left guard when it came to run blocking. He was beat several times to an inside gap and at times struggled with angles. He was easily the weakest link on the Steelers offensive line Sunday night when it came to the running game.
Cam Thomas – Thomas played 37 snaps and was pretty much invisible when it came to rushing the passer. While the Panthers didn’t run much in the game, Thomas managed to register a missed tackle on one of the attempts.
