PITTSBURGH STEELERS

FIVE PLAYERS WHO STOOD OUT AGAINST THE ATLANTA FALCONS

The Pittsburgh Steelers looked like the Super Bowl contenders there were thought to be at the season’s start on Sunday. Lots of praise is due after their win against Atlanta.

The Steelers did a lot of things right on Sunday. The offense was efficient, especially running the ball. The defense sustained a relentless pass rush that made Matt Ryan uncomfortable all game long. The special teams even came up with a punt block.

The most positive takeaway from this game is the performance of the defense. In a game where the offense put up 34 points, the defense also added a touchdown of their own. The team can go far in the playoffs with more performances like they had today.

The team is now 2-2-1 after the 41-17 trampling of the Falcons. We could probably choose seven or eight players who stood out, but here’s who made our top five.

JAMES CONNER

Was this even a question? James Conner was by far the Steelers’ best player on Sunday. The offensive line deserves credit for creating space for Conner to run, but Conner broke tackles, was making players miss, and seemed to fall forward every time he was getting tackled.

Conner carried the ball 21 times for 110 yards with two touchdown runs. He also added 75 receiving yards on four catches. With the ability to rely on the run game, the Steelers’ offense was able to control the clock, sustain longer drives, and move the ball methodically down the field.

After having some struggles in the previous three weeks, two games in which the Steelers had to abandon the run game early, the team was able to run Conner successfully from the very first drive of the game. Conner showed athleticism and strength, and ultimately, that he can have success getting the majority of the workload.

Conner is the biggest reason the Steelers’ offense was successful today. It was the most complete performance from just about everyone today. It all started with Conner and the run game on Sunday.

T.J. WATT

As we mentioned earlier, the defense’s performance was a pleasant surprise. If the Steelers’ defense was to have any success against one of the most talented offenses in the league, it was going to have to start with a successful pass rush. Like the offense’s success started with Conner, the defense’s success started with T.J. Watt.

Watt was all over the field, totaling eight tackles, a pass defended, and most importantly, three sacks. One of those sacks ended up being a strip sack that led to the Steelers’ defensive touchdown.

Watt had seemed to struggle getting any pressure in the previous three games, but he was a force on Sunday and was no match for the Atlanta pass protection. He has become the Steelers’ best pass rusher and it seems that the success of the Steelers’ pass rush starts and ends with Watt.

L.J. FORT

In a game where the Steelers were missing their most experienced inside linebacker in Vince Williams, the Steelers needed someone to step up today.

Tyler Matakevich got the start next to Jon Bostic today, but L.J. Fort was the one who made the biggest impact. Fort looked great in pass coverage and recovered the strip sack by Watt in the end zone that put six points on the board. He also totaled six tackles, all of them solo, along with a sack.

Tomlin’s mantra of the “next man up” was truly embodied by Fort. Call it whatever you want, but Fort seized the opportunity he was given by making plays in the middle of the Steelers’ defense.

This truly is a great boost of confidence. The biggest weakness of the Steelers’ defense is depth (and lack of talent) at inside linebacker. L.J. Fort showed that he is worthy of getting more reps. It was a truly inspiring performance.

JOE HADEN

While the Cleveland Browns are doing a lot of things right nowadays, I’ll still never understand why they just gave up on Joe Haden. The man consistently shows that he’s still capable of playing at a high level. The only valid argument is his health, but even then, it’s not a strong one for just giving the guy away.

Haden usually covers just one side of the field (part of the Steelers’ defensive scheme), but Haden shadowed Julio Jones for most of the game. While Jones ended up with five catches for 62 yards, Jones didn’t make a catch until the fourth quarter of the game, when the Steelers already had a sizable lead. Jones then piled on more stats in garbage time.

Jones is considered to be one of the elite receivers in the game. Haden, along with help of safety help, shut Jones out for three quarter of this football game, which is by far the best performance any team has had against Jones this season. Joe Haden’s still got it, folks.

ANTONIO BROWN

Antonio Brown had one of his quotes of the season with the media this past week, talking about his relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger:

It’s like Wifi. Sometimes the connection’s poor, sometimes the connection is great. It’s always connected.

Early on in this game, it sure looked like the connection was poor. Poor enough to the point where you wonder if Randy Fichtner or Mike Tomlin might just throw out the dang router. The second half of the game was a different story.

The duo upgraded their bandwidth in the second half, highlighted by a beautiful 47-yard touchdown pass where Brown beat one-on-one coverage down the sideline and Big Ben’s pass hit Brown in stride. Brown totaled six catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns on the day.

Part of the Steelers’ struggles in the passing game this season has been the lack of a good connection between Ben and AB, but if something switched on at halftime where they can carry this over into future games, this offense could start being as dangerous as most expected it to be coming into the season.