The Steelers matriculated
in the Mile High City this week and it’s time to see if they made the grade.
Spoiler alert...they didn’t.
Despite my less than prestigious BTSC teaching certificate,
I have to issue the necessary disclaimer. You know the story; of course, I’m
not a football coach, or a teacher, but I play one in blogs and podcasts.
Before the Steelers traveled
to the place where Joey Porter got
shot in the ass, I found myself noticing just how equal the two teams actually
are despite the disparity in records. And then I realized that these teams both
usually battle fiercely in tight contests. Then the game happened and judgments
followed.
Grading games is an extremely difficult and somewhat
thankless task. While the coaches’ grades, of course, are what count the most,
the media and fans can’t help but evaluate as well.
SO LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT MY EARLY PERCEPTIONS:
OFFENSE
Why are they not relying on the running game with James Conner? 53
rushing yards on a mere 13 carries is not enough. There was no early deficit to
make the run game obsolete. The Broncos rushing defense was ranked 27th
going in. Conner’s fumble broke their back. He didn’t need to leave his feet.
Ben was pretty good, but the two interceptions were killers. They trump 462
yards. Antonio Brown and Ryan Switzer were
pretty good yesterday, but JuJu
Smith-Schuster was nothing short of amazing. Xavier
Grimble’s fumble is inexcusable. His excuse of wanting to punish
his defender instead of scoring easily is unforgivable. Chuks Okafor held his
own against Von Miller.
OVERALL OFFENSE GRADE: B-
DEFENSE
The defense was definitely not impressive. Ryan Lindsay ate
them up on the ground. Case Keenum got
just enough time to complete passes. Emmanuel
Sanders punished his old team’s secondary and they found
themselves struggling against the TE position again. Not having Stephon Tuitt to
stop the run is debilitating.
OVERALL DEFENSE GRADE: C-
SPECIAL TEAMS
The blocked field goal hurt, but the ST unit wasn’t that
bad. I feel like Danny Smith’s unit is finding their way. Jordan Berry is
punting so much better. But the fake field goal was innovative and executed
well.
OVERALL SPECIAL TEAMS GRADE: B+
OVERALL TEAM GRADE: C
This was a contest that they should have won. They could
have controlled the ball better and they lost by not protecting the ball. Their
opponent was, however, better than their record. This game can’t be replicated
going forward.
VALEDICTORIAN: JuJu Smith-Schuster
HONOR ROLL: Ben
Roethlisberger, Ryan Switzer,
Antonio Brown, Chuks Okafor, Jesse James, Chris Boswell, Jordan Berry,
Al Villanueva, Cam Heyward, Vince
Williams
DETENTION: James Washington, Xavier
Grimble, James Conner, Vance
McDonald, Joe Haden,
Interception Ben
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