Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 27-14 win against the Cleveland Browns Sunday afternoon.
WINNERS
RBs Najee Harris/Jaylen Warren
The run game was perhaps ignored early but once Arthur Smith and the offense settled in, the Steelers started rolling. RB Najee Harris ran hard on the opening possessions and at one point had over six yards per carry, starting with a well-blocked crunch run on the team’s first drive. He also scored the team’s first touchdown of the game, a short burst over the goal line.
Warren has looked far healthier in recent weeks and is playing like his old self. An absolute handful to take down, he ran hard, broke tackles, and continues to show ridiculous contact balance. He drove the run-game bus later in the first half. Combined, the two rushed for over 90 yards while Warren contributed through the air, too. The split and performance the way it should be.
NT Keeanu Benton
Pittsburgh got off to another slow start. Like it so often requires, the defense had to step up with a turnover to swing things in the Steelers’ favor. Today, that was Benton, who picked off an attempted Browns screen pass and returned it deep into Cleveland territory.
Benton has done a great job defending screens all season and it often doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. But he’s made impact plays there, too, including a hustle play against a TE screen versus the Baltimore Ravens that resulted in LB Patrick Queen forcing and recovering a fumble.
Benton remains without a sack but has contributed in other areas, especially defending screens.
EDGEs Alex Highsmith/T.J. Watt
EDGE rushers were loud today after a quiet Week 12 outing. It helped getting back Highsmith, who put Browns LT Germaine Ifedi through the blender. Highsmith recorded a sack in his return. Watt was excellent against the run, setting the tone with a big hit and TFL on RB Nick Chubb to begin the game for the Steelers’ defense.
Pittsburgh gave up an ugly extended-play touchdown to WR Jerry Jeudy early but tightened up the rest of the game. The Steelers’ rush contain was impressive and helped squeeze QB Jameis Winston in the pocket.
DL Cam Heyward
Just another multi-sack day for a 35-year-old defensive tackle. Remember when the talk was if he was washed? Heyward is doing things players at his age and position simply don’t do. He’s even beating my expectations. Some of his pressure and sacks were partly the product of good coverage downfield but Heyward continues to show his strength, play the run hard, and push the pocket.
LB Elandon Roberts
Talk about tone setter? You talk about Elandon Roberts. He blew up Browns center Ethan Pocic pulling early in the game, something he’s repeatedly done throughout the season and his career. But Roberts’ statement play was running through and making a tackle for loss on an attempted 4th and 1 that the Browns failed to convert. A big moment in the game.
TE Pat Freiermuth
Freiermuth and QB Russell Wilson have built their connection, and it’s heated up. A scramble-drill touchdown last week, the two connected in similar fashion for a big third down before later finding the end zone on a great throw from Wilson over the middle.
Over the past three games, Freiermuth has become a focal part of the offense with around 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He came up big without WR George Pickens in the lineup due to a hamstring injury.
P Corliss Waitman
Let’s show a little love to punters, too. Waitman booted the ball well, including backing up Browns PR Kadarius Toney that resulted in a fourth-quarter muffed punt that was recovered by the Steelers. It officially squashed what small chance Cleveland had at a comeback.
LOSERS
Pass-Scheme Game Plan
At least early. Pittsburgh looked out of sorts initially without Pickens after practicing and game-planning with him throughout the week. He sat out after being expected to play. A lot of clunky concepts and third-down struggles, leading to third-and-short deep throws to WR Scotty Miller.
The Steelers cleaned things up and got into a groove later in the game but Pittsburgh was definitely trying to keep its head above water early. Felt like the opposite of the Week 12 game. A better run-game plan but worse pass-game attack that showed Pickens’ value to the fluidity of the offense.
Third-Down Offense
Not good enough and was ugly initially. A 3rd-and-1 QB sneak negated by penalty was costly and the Steelers couldn’t convert in manageable situations early. Things got better throughout the game, including a long-ball catch by Miller, but still situational work to do here.
Coverage Units
Pittsburgh’s coverage units haven’t been good the last two weeks. Struggling on kick coverage last week, there were again issues against Cleveland. That was lowlighted by a 56-yard run back from Browns RB/KR Jerome Ford to open the second half, breaking multiple tackles and getting deep into Steelers’ territory.
Fortunately, Pittsburgh was bailed out by K Dustin Hopkins missing a field goal, but the coverage units have to tighten up. They’re healthy so injuries and the domino effect that has on the ‘teams unit aren’t even factors, though they’d never be excuses. Even in the punt-return game, the Browns averaged 15 yards on their first three tries.
CB Beanie Bishop Jr.
Not an obviously poor game from Bishop but he struggled to run through downhill and played too passively. Allowed too much YAC and first downs that should’ve been otherwise stopped. He continues to cede playing time to veteran DB Cam Sutton.
While not enough to solely put him on the losers list, SS DeShon Elliott gave up two touchdowns in this one. He abandoned his post safety spot on the Jerry Jeudy long TD and was Mossed on TE David Njoku’s fourth-quarter TD. Elliott made other impressive plays and continues to tackle well so he’s not officially on the list but a name worth mentioning when talking about secondary play.
RB Cordarrelle Patterson
Obviously, for his costly fumble in the fourth quarter. Patterson attempted to cut back a run and lost the ball, which was recovered by DE Myles Garrett. It gave Cleveland life in a 27-14 game. Fortunately, CB James Pierre immediately took the football back, making a nice sliding grab to intercept Winston just plays later.
