Pittsburgh Steelers: Studs and duds vs. Bills in Week 15

Stud: Cameron Heyward, DT

The veteran defensive tackle is in the midst of his best season with the Steelers. While he might not be a First-Team All-Pro like he was in 2017, Heyward is dominating right now.

Against the Bills, Heyward recorded eight tackles, one pass defense and one quarterback hit. He’s already set a single-season career-high in tackles this year with 72. His previous record was 59. The big man is also closing in on a personal best in quarterback hits. He has 19 this season, and his career-high is 22, which he posted back in 2017.

While Heyward likely won’t top his 12 sacks from 2017, the mighty interior defensive lineman is performing at an All-Pro level.

Dud: Devlin Hodges, QB

I don’t want to go on Twitter and see any more tweets or rumors that Hodges is Pittsburgh’s future at the quarterback position. No one who is making those claims has ever watched a Steelers game. I give the undrafted rookie credit for taking shots that Mason Rudolph was too afraid or cautious to make, but Hodges cost Pittsburgh the game on Sunday night.

While “Duck” Hodges provided Pittsburgh’s reduced and injured offense with a spark, he made too many mistakes last night. Frankly, he shouldn’t even be throwing the ball 38 times a game. Going into the game, the most attempts he’d made in a single game were 21. He should be capped at about 25. Letting him get to 38 was poor game planning, and it only invited trouble.

Hodges was intercepted four times, including in the end zone on Pittsburgh’s final two drives of the game. He completed 60.53 percent of his pass attempts for 202 yards and did have one touchdown. The fact of the matter is, Hodges made mistakes instead of big plays when it mattered most Sunday night. Of course, poor game-planning and management didn’t help either.