Pittsburgh Steelers: 3 Standouts vs. Patriots in Week 1
By Samuel Teets
The Pittsburgh Steelers were destroyed 33-3 by the New England Patriots in their Week 1 matchup but these three players still shined a bit.
It was hard to pick out three standouts from Sunday night’s game for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The New England Patriots gave their home crowd a show as they throttled the Steelers 33-3. It was a total one-sided wash of a game.
In the past, the Patriots have started the season off slowly, but they looked in mid-season form against the Steelers. It’s scary to think about how good New England’s offense can be if it successfully integrates Antonio Brown. Tom Brady completed 24 passes to seven different players for 341 yards and three touchdowns.
The Steelers did defeat the Patriots at Heinz Field last season, but that was because of a dominant running performance by Jaylen Samuels and a sloppy game by New England. Neither occurrence repeated itself last night. Pittsburgh rushed for a total of 32 yards and James Conner averaged 2.1 yards per carry on 10 attempts. New England didn’t turn the ball over once.
While it would be easier to write about all of the players who didn’t show up, here are three players who came close to standing out for Pittsburgh against the Patriots.
3. Devin Bush, ILB
The rookie first-round pick led the Steelers in tackles with 11 combined and seven solo. He did not post a tackle for loss or a pass defense. Some of Bush’s tackles came as a result of giving up pass plays that he subsequently cleaned up. It was far from a perfect debut, but at least Bush showed he’s capable of staying around the football and making plays.
Expectations for Bush are high this season since Pittsburgh traded up to take him with the 10th pick in the draft. The last time the Steelers traded up for a defensive player was back in 2003. They took a safety from USC named Troy Polamalu.
With how the Steelers defense played last night, let’s just hope Bush develops into a star quickly.