Pittsburgh Steelers report card following loss to Vikings
By Matt Shetler
A change of scenery didn’t help the Pittsburgh Steelers much.
Another week and another disappointing loss in the books for the 0-4 Steelers.
Sep 29, 2013; London, UNITED KINGDOM; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) is pressured by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Erin Henderson (50) in the NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The defense was once again shelled and dug the offense, which wasn’t bad again, too big of a hole too climb out of in a 34-27 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London.
However despite the loss, there were a few bright spots along the way.
Let’s see how the Steelers graded out in this one.
Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger had a pretty solid afternoon, but his third quarter interception led to a Vikings touchdown and his fumble at the Vikings six-yard line put an end to another loss. But Roethlisberger was under a ton of pressure once again and there really wasn’t much he could do on the fumble as Jared Allen and company beat the Steelers offensive line with ease all game long. On the bright side Big Ben completed 36-of-51 attempts for 383 yards and nearly rallied the Steelers back from a 34-17 deficit. Overall Big Ben played good enough to win. Grade: B
Running Backs: It’s hard not to get excited about rookie Le’Veon Bell and you can see why everyone is so high on the youngster, especially after his eight-yard touchdown run in the first half. Overall Bell rushed for 57 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 27 yards. It wasn’t a great debut, but it was good enough to do something the Steelers haven’t done in ages- score a touchdown on the ground. At the end of the day though, the team didn’t get much from their other backs and still only rushed for 77 yards on the day with their longest run being only 11 yards. It was an improvement though. Grade: C+
Wide Receivers: The receiving core had a very good afternoon. Antonio Brown caught a career-high 12 passes, the most by any Steeler in a decade. Jerricho Cotchery was also very productive as he not only caught a touchdown, but had over 100 yards on just five receptions. Throw in contributions from Heath Miller and Emmanuel Sanders and it’s hard to complain about their effort. Grade: A-
Offensive Line: It’s official; the Steelers have the worst pair of tackles in the NFL. How Mike Adams doesn’t get a finger on Jared Allen on two consecutive plays with the Steelers driving for the tying score is beyond belief. Adams allowed two sacks to Allen and was penalized for holding on another sack-to-be in the first half. Then he was blown up for another sack by LB Chad Greenway in the third quarter. Ramon Foster was injured which forced Kelvin Beachum to play left guard, thus leaving Adams at left tackle to get abused over and over again. Roethlisberger was under pressure the entire game and was sacked 5.5 times. Adams is the focal point here but no one played great up front. Grade: F