In week four, the Pittsburgh Steelers positional grades were mostly positive, as they bounced back in spectacular fashion against the Baltimore Ravens, winning by a score of 26-9.
Week Four Pittsburgh Steelers Positional Grades
Quarterback: B
Ben Roethlisberger played better than his stat sheet shows, but he still didn’t look like the typical Big Ben we’re used to. He completed 18 of 30 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown. He threw an interception, technically, but it looked like Antonio Brown was down before the ball came loose.
Roethlisberger finished with a QBR of 32.4, which is lower than where he’d like to be. Hopefully Roethlisberger can start playing more consistently moving forward.
Running Backs: A-
Le’Veon Bell finally had his breakout game against the Ravens with 35 carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns. He also added four receptions for 42 yards. The offensive line looked much better and Bell took advantage of the improved running lanes.
James Conner had a nice run of 23 yards to the left side, following the pulling right guard David DeCastro. Conner finished with 26 yards on four carries. Terrell Watson only had one carry for a single yard, but he converted a crucial third down to keep an offensive drive going.
Wide Receivers: B
Antonio Brown struggled a bit against the Ravens, but he tends to do that when he’s matched up against Jimmy Smith. He finished with four catches on nine targets for 34 yards. JuJu Smith-Schuster had a breakout game of sorts, finishing with three catches on four targets for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Martavis Bryant was out-snapped by Smith-Schuster and finished with three catches on five targets for 48 yards, leading the team in receiving yards.
Justin Hunter was active instead of Eli Rogers and had a nice catch in the red-zone for five yards. Moving forward, expect to see Hunter more than Rogers now that Smith-Schuster has shown to be the most versatile receiver on the offense. Rogers is mainly a slot receiver, but Hunter brings a red-zone threat that is lacking in the offense currently.
Tight Ends: B-
The Steelers tight ends had a quiet game against the Ravens. Vance McDonald dropped another pass and has been clearly passed on the depth chart by Jesse James. James caught all three of his targets for 30 yards.
Offensive Linemen: B+
The offensive line finally looked as good as advertised. Ramon Foster was active, but starting right tackle Marcus Gilbert missed another game. Chris Hubbard has played fairly well in Gilbert’s absence though.
The offensive line allowed one sack for eight yards, but helped Le’Veon Bell accrue 100 rushing yards for the first time this season. The Steelers ran for 173 yards and totaled 381 yards of offense.
Defensive Linemen: A
Cameron Heyward led the way with two sacks and four tackles. Stephon Tuitt returned to the lineup and added three tackles and a half sack. Javon Hargrave once again had a strong performance, taking on double-teams and causing chaos in the backfield. Hargrave had a tackle and Tyson Alualu added a tackle as well.
The Steelers defensive line may be the best group on the roster. With Heyward and Tuitt as top-tier pass-rushing defensive ends, as well as being premiere run stoppers, along with Hargrave plugging up the middle, the defensive line is stacked. Not to mention Alualu and L.T. Walton can fill in whenever they’re needed.
Linebackers: A
Ryan Shazier may be the most valuable player on the Steelers defense. The Steelers have a lot of depth on their defense, but no one makes as many plays as Shazier. He finished with 11 tackles, a tackle for a loss and three passes defended. Bud Dupree had a strong performance as well with four tackles, a half sack and one and a half tackles for losses.
T.J. Watt returned to the lineup and had four tackles and a tackle for a loss. Vince Williams didn’t have as good of a game as he’s been having recently, but he finished with three tackles. Tyler Matakevich added two tackles and Arthur Moates had a tackle.
Cornerbacks: B+
The Ravens had 208 passing yards, but most of that came late in the game when the Steelers had all but wrapped up a victory. Joe Flacco threw two interceptions and was held to only 3.9 yards per pass. Compared to last year’s group of Artie Burns, Ross Cockrell and William Gay, this year’s group of Burns, Joe Haden and Mike Hilton seems to be much improved.
Hilton had a great game with four tackles, a sack and an interception. Burns had four tackles and Haden had three tackles. Coty Sensabaugh added two tackles and Gay seemed to take a lesser role this week, playing the dime cornerback. Gay had one tackle.
Safeties: B+
As previously mentioned, the Steelers pass defense looked stout against the Ravens. Mike Mitchell was inactive but J.J. Wilcox filled in and had three tackles. Sean Davis returned from his injury and had a nice game of his own. He finished second on the team with five tackles.
Special Teams: B-
Antonio Brown took over the punt returning duties in Rogers’ absence. Chris Boswell made two of his three field goal attempts, including a 49-yard field goal. Jordan Berry continues to have a good season. He had four punts with an average of 37.5 yards per punt and a long of 48 yards. He had one punt inside the 20-yard line.
The Steelers have a solid group of players on special teams. Their depth on defense allows players like Anthony Chickillo, Moates, Matakevich and Sensabaugh (among others) to be able to make crucial plays on special teams.
