Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 23-19 win against the Green Bay Packers Sunday afternoon.
WINNERS
Najee Harris/Jaylen Warren: Another strong dose of the running game, even if it went quiet in the middle quarters. Warren is a fierce sparkplug who legitimately brings energy and life into the offense. But Harris also ran hard and well with good lanes cleared in front of them. The running game has gotten much more on track after a terrible first four months of the season.
Broderick Jones/Run Blocking: Gotta show some love to the line. Always hard to single out specific people watching it through the first time but Jones, in his second start at right tackle, has been a bright spot. His ability to pull and move in space is something we haven’t seen from a Steelers tackle in a long time.
But the whole line did well up front in the running game. Left guard Isaac Seumalo cleared the path for Harris on a long run fourth-quarter run of 24 yards. For Pittsburgh, that’s a long run anyway. The Steelers finished the day with 205 yards on the ground.
Patrick Peterson: I’ve been hard on Peterson this season, but he stepped up today. His blocked extra point, something he’s known for to every special teams coordinator this season, is what helped keep the margin at four points throughout the game. That forced the Packers to push to put the ball in the end zone late in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Peterson stepped up again. Veteran savvy to not bite on WR Christian Watson’s out route, carry it vertical, get his head around, and bat the ball away into S Keanu Neal’s arms for the interception. Two monster plays by Peterson, who the team needed today with other issues in the secondary.
Keeanu Benton: Benton has all the makings of the next Steelers’ stud defensive linemen. He collapses the pocket that leads to others generating sacks, Alex Highsmith last week, T.J. Watt this week, while impacting the game in other ways with a batted pass at the line of scrimmage. His motor and hustle shouldn’t be forgotten about either and he made an open field tackle on a running back screen that might have saved a touchdown.
Montravius Adams has played well but Benton should be the Steelers’ starting nose tackle the rest of the season.
Elijah Riley: Quick note on Riley, who had a nickel pressure that led to an incompletion earlier in the game and a nice open field tackle on the Packers’ two-minute drive. He should see the field more often.
LOSERS
Levi Wallace: A tough day for Wallace. A tough season for Wallace, really. Green Bay clearly targeted him, the corner in coverage on Jordan Love’s two first-half touchdown passes. Perhaps he should’ve gotten more assistance from S Keanu Neal on the latter, we’ll have to check the All-22, but Wallace clearly wasn’t making a ton of plays out there (though he did have a Cover 2 breakup later in the game).
Secondary Speed: Big picture, the Steelers just don’t have the guys to cover. Especially with FS Minkah Fitzpatrick out and losses at LB in Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander. Communication was also stressed, slowing these guys down even more. Could see a lot of pre-snap communication issues that didn’t help matters.
But Neal, Wallace, Kazee, and Elandon Roberts and Mark Robinson (against the pass) is an obvious problem. And it becomes more noticeable against a young, athletic, and pretty deep group of weapons like the Packers as opposed to the Titans, who lacked those types of dudes.
Kick Coverage: Not sure what the kick-coverage plan was in this game. Seems like a lot of intentionally short kicks, maybe to try to get more hangtime, but it’s a plan that didn’t work. Packers return man Keisean Nixon had big runbacks, including one he come close to breaking for a touchdown, saved by CB James Pierre. Missed tackles played a role but I didn’t like Danny Smith’s strategy or the execution.
Third Down: Not a good day on third down for either side of the ball. After a hot start by the offense, it wilted the rest of the way. Defensively, the Steelers gave up two touchdowns on third down that were backbreakers. Usually moments where they hold up and only bend, not break.
