PITTSBURGH STEELERS

5 THINGS WE LEARNED IN WIN OVER FALCONS

The Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Falcons at home, Sunday night. It was a decisive victory that saw the team correct a lot of nagging issues to take the win.

The Steelers have been looking for any kind of good news this season and in Sunday’s game against the Falcons they got all the good news they could handle. Every part of the team where there were question marks gave fans a reason for confidence (except Boswell). They were in charge of the game throughout and when they clock ran out the Steelers won 41-17.

This brings the record to 2-2-1. They’re back at .500. Once you get into the playoffs anything can happen. The Steelers have had worse starts and made the playoffs. Just last year they were .500 at 6 games in and made the playoffs.

Let’s not read too much into it though. Anything could happen, but lets see what we learned.

JAMES CONNER IS AN NFL STARTER

Yes, Le’Veon Bell, whatever. Yes, he’s good. No one can do what he does. But we’re all sick of talking about him at this point so let’s skip the qualifiers and get straight to the good news. James Conner showed he is an NFL starter. He might not be Adrian Peterson in his prime but he’s a starting caliber NFL running back and it showed on Sunday.

James Conner showed power, awareness, and quickness. He also showed hands and blocking skills. He finished the game with 110 rushing yards and 75 receiving yards with 2 touchdowns. We’ve seen the Steelers try to get away with a backup or a split-carries type of back in the full time starter roll, Verron Hayes for example. Conner is not that. The blocking was certainly good, but Conner looked like a full time NFL starter who can get more yards than the blocking gives him.

ANTONIO BROWN SEEMS HAPPIER

When Antonio Brown is happy, Steelers Nation is happy. Brown and Ben have been a little bit off all season. Brown had not had a 100 yard game all season. He’s made his frustration clear without going full Terrell Owens and having it impact the team. But seeing that Ben-Brown connection we’ve all enjoyed so much for so long is something any football fan can get behind.

He finished the game with 101 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 47 yard touchdown grab. He looked fast, he caught tough balls, he made people miss, he ran great routes. This is the Brown we all know. He’s too talented to hold back and it was a matter of time. Still, it’s a relief to see the teams true core, Ben to Brown, looking on point.

T.J. WATT COULD BE THE GUY

It is still his second year and he’s been a little bit hot and cold this season, but the Steelers, without Shazier, have desperately needed a playmaker to emerge from the linebacker position. And despite all those caveats, Jarvis Jones or Bud Dupree have never dominated a game like Watt did against Atlanta. Watt had 3 sacks including a forced fumble that resulted in a defensive touchdown. He had 6 tackles total.

Watt had such a strong performance that, like Shazier used to do, he made the whole defense play better with him. Heyward had been off all season but showed up strong tonight. Joe Haden more or less bested Julio Jones for most of the game. The other linebackers like Bostic or Fort had good games too. Its the type of lead-by-example playing that this defense has missed and Watt stepped forward as a candidate to takeover as a leader.

BOSWELL COULD BE AN ISSUE

We’ve all been concerned about Boswell. He’s missed more field goals this year than all of last season. He’s 3 for 6. He’s even missed 2 extra points. We can speculate all day on why, but the Steelers may need to consider opening up a spot on the practice squad for a kicker or finding some long term solution. It hasn’t cost them a game yet but in a season like this where every win counts can they risk dragging him through 11 more games?

It’s true, the Steelers struggle to find new kickers. The theory is, it’s because most kickers struggle in Heinz Field. Therefore, when they find a good one they have to hold on tight. We all love Boswell but memories don’t put points on the board. In a league where kickers are a dime a dozen the Steelers just can’t keep waiting for Boswell to shake this. Boswell in 2017 is irreplaceable. But there are a dozen kickers in FA who can go 100% on extra points.

I’m not saying drop him tomorrow. But the Steelers front office is not known to be sentimental and it’s something they have to consider at this point and probably are.

LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE ROLE PLAYERS

For a few years now the Steelers have been a team of stars. This year, they are missing their biggest star on defense and arguably their biggest star on offense. The biggest thing we learned on Sunday is that the Steelers don’t need another Shazier and another Bell to dominate a game. They just need everybody to execute and play one level up. Every player can collectively make up the difference.

Conner stepped up big but look at some of his big plays. You’ll see Roosevelt Nix, Vance McDonald, Alejandro Villanueva, and more showed up with great blocks. All the tight ends were involved. Special teams had a great game, Jordan Berry and Nix stood out. Fort, Bostic, and Matekavich held the line with Vince Williams absent. The defense wrapped up and tackled.

I’ll grant you the Falcons are not the strongest looking team at the moment in terms of record. But if the Steelers can play like this every game, from offense to defense to special teams to coaching, then they can play any team in the league, even without Bell and Shazier.