PITTSBURGH STEELERS

5 PLAYERS WHO STOOD OUT TO ME AGAINST CLEVELAND

The Pittsburgh Steelers opened their season in rainy Cleveland on Sunday. There were five players that stood out in the season’s opener.

It was an ugly game. The weather. The penalties. The turnovers. It was just U-G-L-Y ugly. Players the Steelers usually rely on in the clutch couldn’t get it done. Ben Roethlisberger continues to struggle on the road, and usually clutch kicker Chris Boswell missed a 42-yard field goal try in overtime that would have won the game.

In a game that was lucky to end in a tie, it wasn’t all bad. There were five players that made a huge impact on the positive side.

JAMES CONNER

With Le’Veon Bell continuing to hold out, second-year back James Conner made his first career start. He carried the ball 31 times for 135 yards and punched it in the end zone twice. His second touchdown was an impressive 22-yard scamper.

His only goof in the game was a fumble later on in the game when Pittsburgh had a 21-7 lead that sparked Cleveland’s comeback.

He definitely wore down as the game went on, but if Bell continues to hold out, Conner proved enough that the Steelers can rely on him. Cleveland has a good defense, so 135 yards on the ground in a nasty-weather game is impressive.

TJ WATT

Either T.J. Watt loves playing in Cleveland or he’s on the verge of breaking out as a star in this league. Either way, he was by far and away the most impressive player on defense today.

He recorded 11 total tackles (eight solo) and four sacks on the day. Cleveland doesn’t have Joe Thomas anymore, but their line is still a formidable foe and Taylor is a very good runner and good at escaping under pressure.

Watt, the “savior” of the game, also stuck his hand in front of the Browns’ overtime field goal attempt, keeping the Steelers from walking away with a Week 1 loss.

He was a wrecking ball all game long. If he continues this throughout the season, the Steelers defense will benefit greatly from it.

He’s a force off the edge, early in the season, and should use that to excite the defense. This will benefit the entire pass rush. If Bud Dupree can continue to play well off the other side, the edge rush will be scary this season.

RYAN SWITZER

In his Steelers debut, Ryan Switzer may have established himself as the Steelers full time kick and punt return specialist for good. It sure didn’t seem like a Jacoby Jones debacle.

Switzer was very solid on just about every return, especially on punts. It helped a lot with field position, which in a game where the offense struggled, could not be praised enough.

There isn’t any doubt that Switzer can do the job on both kicks and punts. Now it will be interesting to see what he can do in good weather.

Even when Switzer isn’t returning punts for a touchdown, he’s reliable. Whenever he touches the ball, you expect something to happen. It adds another element to this team, overall.

JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER

JuJu was the Steelers’ leading receiver on the day, tallying 119 yards on five catches. He had a 67-yard catch-and-run that lead to James Conner’s second touchdown of the day.

Antonio Brown was covered up frequently all day and Ben was able to find JuJu for some big catches in the game. JuJu definitely showed that he is still very capable of being a great option when Brown is tightly covered.

Smith-Schuster is going to be something no NFL defense wants to mess with once he and Ben Roethlisberger begin to click. The chemistry will begin to be key, much like Ben and Antonio Brown.

For a second-year player, Smith-Schuster is already a star. He has all the potential and the confidence is there. He’s going to break out with some monster games this season.

CAM HEYWARD

The captain of the defense was more than visible on Sunday. Heyward was constantly applying pressure, both in the run game and going after the quarterback.

The Steelers totaled seven sacks on the game, Heyward getting one of them. He also chased down Tyrod Taylor a couple of times when trying to escape that didn’t go as sacks because Taylor crossed the line of scrimmage. He totaled seven tackles as well.

NEXT: Steelers Bold Prediction for 2018

Heyward anchors the defensive line, the biggest strength of the Steelers’ defense. He was huge today. With the improvement of T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree, and the health of Stephon Tuitt, this pass rush is going to be dangerous in 2018. Something that will make this team a lot better when the offense starts to click.