Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 30-23 win over Seattle Seahawks Sunday evening.
WINNERS
Najee Harris/Jaylen Warren – Talk about angry runs. You can bet Good Morning Football’s Kyle Brandt will be losing his mind over what Harris and Warren did today. The line blocked well but Harris and Warren got well beyond what was blocked. With stiff-arms and straight power, both kept their legs churning and bulled Seattle’s front seven. Warren also showed his vision and lateral quickness on an 18-yard scoring scamper. And their stiff-arms were lethal, both men putting Seahawks players into the ground because of it.
O-Line Run Blocking – Though Harris and Warren got well more than what was blocked, the line deserves plenty of credit, too. The linemen picked up where they left off in the second half of Week 16’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals, consistently winning at the point of attack and generating plenty of movement up front.
Rookie RT Broderick Jones had the block of the day, pancaking S Julian Love on this pull, while the whole line pushed Harris over the goal line on his second score of the day. Pittsburgh had racked up 145 yards rushing by halftime. They finished with 202 on the ground.
George Pickens – While he and WR Diontae Johnson need to show better ball security, Pickens did far more good than bad (and the fumble didn’t hurt him, ultimately). Pickens made his classic highlight-reel grabs, none better than this full-extension play in the fourth quarter, a tremendous third-down grab.
Chandon Sullivan – Another quietly nice day for Sullivan, aggressive downhill, a solid tackler, and able to separate player from football. He’s played good and sound football the last two weeks with an increased role at slot corner due to Patrick Peterson moving to safety. He and S Miles Killebrew have stepped up.
Nick Herbig – You talk about players who are just fun to watch. Herbig is near the top of the list, the Jaylen Warren of the offense. Herbig came up with a huge defensive play, strip-sacking QB Geno Smith in the fourth quarter in a 27-20 game. A great effort to slip the block of the left tackle, former top-10 pick Charles Cross, and the ability to finish. And he even recovered the ball.
He still doesn’t get to play a lot of snaps but makes every one of them count. His per-snap production is ridiculously good.
LOSERS
Joey Porter Jr. – A tough day for the rookie Porter, who at least avoided a serious injury and missed only a few plays in the first half, though QB Geno Smith picked on replacement James Pierre for a touchdown. Porter struggled to defend D.K. Metcalf on underneath slants, getting turned around, while he couldn’t plaster on a scramble drill and allowed a 32-yard reception in the first half. Metcalf also controlled him on RB Kenneth Walker III’s opening touchdown. A good season overall but a tough matchup today that didn’t go his way.
Run Defense/Tackling – While the Seahawks didn’t possess the ball a lot, deflating their numbers, they were efficient and effective running the football. Walker had green grass on his first touchdown run with the Steelers seemingly in the wrong gaps, leaving a hole for Walker. Missed tackles were a concern throughout the day as Walker juked and ran past Steelers defenders.
Even with its injuries, Pittsburgh shouldn’t have struggled quite this much.
Defending Tight Ends – A recurring and unsurprising issue, Mike Tomlin joked he wouldn’t hate it if Seattle targeted its tight ends. But the Seahawks obliged and had success as Noah Fant and Colby Parkinson made big plays. Not as egregiously bad as past weeks, and those guys didn’t find the end zone, but the Steelers still don’t have good answers with all their injuries limiting them.
FOX’s Broadcast – I don’t often include these types of things. But without a lot of other obvious losers, we’ll add the broadcast. Because it was sort of a mess. From graphical errors to color analyst Jonathan Vilma struggling in the booth, it wasn’t the cleanest production in the world.
