Pittsburgh Steelers: Who starred and who must step up?
By Dan Thomas
Saturday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals will go down as one of the most memorable games in playoff history. It’ll be for all the wrong reasons but nonetheless, playoff history.
Yet, in all of the drama, controversy and questionable actions there were some great performances put on at Paul Brown Stadium. Let’s take a look at these along with some not so great performances.
Best of the Best
- Kicker Chris Boswell – The 24-year old out of Rice University went 4 of 4 on field goals including a game-winning 35-yard field goal. The kid handled the pressure of the bright lights and he did it in horrible weather conditions. Although his job might not sound like such a hard task, it truly is. Just ask Blair Walsh. In a league where teams go through kickers like cheap toilet paper, Boswell has cemented himself as the Steelers starting kicker in 2016 and possibly beyond.
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- Running Backs Fitzgerald Toussaint & Jordan Todman – The weather forced both teams to turn to the run game and both of these RBs turned in arguably the best game of their careers. They combined for 183 scrimmage yards on 32 total touches and nine first downs. Todman actually finished the weekend with more rushing yards than RBs Alfred Morris, Adrian Peterson, Jeremy Hill and Eddie Lacy. Who saw that coming? Either way, both of them went above and beyond expectations and that’s what teams need if they are going to win games in January.
- Linebacker Ryan Shazier – The former Buckeye returned to Ohio and had a monster game. He finished with 13 combined tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. His game-saving forced fumble on RB Jeremy Hill saved the season for the Steelers and he’ll go down in history if the Steelers are able to finish off this magical run.
- Wide Receiver Antonio Brown – In such a big game, did you expect anything else from Brown? He finished with 7 receptions for 119 yards. His receiving yards accounted for 52% of the teams total passing yards. His highlight 60-yard reception in the third quarter happened after he caught the ball nine yards from the line of scrimmage, broke a tackle, made multiple defender miss and then outran various Bengals players. It was just another example of how great this guy is with the ball after the catch. Saturday was just another day in the life of Antonio Brown.
Good But Not Great
- Wide Receiver Martavis Bryant – His somersault touchdown with the ball pinned behind the back of his leg was great. Lets not get that confused. However, his overall performance was good. He only finished with 29 receiving yards but to his credit, his 44-yard run was a game-high and a thing of beauty. Every time he gets the ball in his hands, all I can hear is Jermaine Dupri in the intro from the song Hardball: “Throw me the ball and watch what I do with it”. The guy is scary athletic and gifted.
- Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger – People are going to remember him coming back into the game on the eventual game-winning drive while dealing with an obvious shoulder injury. It was gusty and people should tip their hats off to him. With that said, if it wasn’t for a couple bonehead Bengals defensive players making a couple boneheaded decisions, the game most likely would have had a different outcome. Remember, the play that resulted in a 15-yard penalty due to an illegal hit on Antonio Brown came after a horrible overthrow by Roethlisberger. Big Ben had a good game but lets not fall into some false illusion that he won the game for the Steelers. The Bengals just found new and jaw-dropping ways to lose the game.
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You Must do Better
- Wide Receiver Markus Wheaton – He finished with 2 receptions for 23 yards and lost a fumble. He is the third WR behind Brown and Bryant and has limited opportunities. He isn’t going to be a main reason the Steelers win but he can’t be a contributing factor for a loss either. It’s okay if his 3-5 receptions only result in decent plays. Just as long as they don’t result in disastrous plays.
- Quarterback Landry Jones – I know he’s a backup quarterback but he was the main reason why the Steelers gave away their 15-0 lead. His stat line of 2/5, 11 yards and 1 interception is inexcusable. Not to mention, his one interception should have lost the game for the Steelers. If he’s forced into anytime next week due to Roethlisberger’s injury, he’s got to do better.