The Pittsburgh Steelers did not look good at all in their Thursday night loss to the Baltimore Ravens and after three 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:
Antonio Brown – Brown managed to get himself back on the field after a big firt quarter hit and ended the game with seven catches for 90 yards. The former sixth-round draft pick brings his “A” game with him week in and week out and it shows on the field.
Le’Veon Bell – The weight that Bell dropped during the offseason is very noticable on the field. He is a lot more shiftier this season and often looks like he is being controlled by a joystick. His 16 touches for 107 yards was one of the few offensive bright spots for the Steelers.
Brad Wing – So far it looks like keeping Wing was the right decision. against the Ravens he punted four times for a 45.8 yard average. He even recorded a tackle on a fourth quarter punt.
Steve McLendon – McLendon was one of the few bright spots on the Steelers defense once again. While he did ultimately leave the game with a shoulder injury, he did manage to register five tackles with three yards of the line of scrimmage with one resulting in a loss of yardage.
Shaun Suisham – They weren’t long booming kicks, but all three of Suisham’s kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. Throw in his six points and it’s hard to leave him off this list.
Losers:
Cam Thomas – Thomas continues to struggle against the run and there were several times that he was either stood straight up or blown backwards off of the line of scrimmage. This makes two games in a row that he has played below the line and it’s hard seeing him being a starter much longer if that continues.
Justin Brown – His fumble on the Steelers first possession should have never happened as it wasn’t even forced by a helmet on the ball. Brown appeared to check out mentally from that point forward as even his run blocking suffered.
Cortez Allen – Two penalties combined with four missed tackles made for a long night for Allen.
Marcus Gilbert – Gilbert allowed two more sacks Thursday night. He has to do a better ob of not only getting his hands up quicker to deliver a punch, but also needs to stay off of his heels. We saw a few flat back lunges in this game as well.
Ben Roethlisberger – This was certainly not one of Roethlisberger’s finest games as he missed several open receivers with inaccurate throws. There were a few other instances where he should have gotten the ball out quicker to boot.
