Steelers: Week 2 Winners and Losers

While defense was the story of week one, there seemed to be none of that Sunday versus the Kansas City Chiefs. The Pittsburgh Steelers lost in shootout fashion and were gashed all game long by second-year quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. Here are my week 2 winners and losers from the Steelers’ home loss to the Chiefs:

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Winners

JuJu Smith-Schuster

JuJu was one of the few brights spots on the Steelers today. He secured 13 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown. Smith-Schuster was Ben’s security blanket all game long, and at just 21 years old, he continues to get fans excited for a bright future ahead.

Jesse James

James has been surprisingly spectacular through his first two games of 2018. This week, he led all Steelers receivers with 138 receiving yards and took one of his 5 receptions for a touchdown. His 27.6 yards per reception were unheard of and – even with the return of Vance McDonald – has earned the right to continue carving out a sizable role in the Steelers offense this season.

Ben Roethlisberger

It was hard not to be down on Big Ben after the first quarter, but he quickly got things rolling in the second – leading the Steelers to 21 consecutive points. Ben led the Steelers offense to a 37-point performance from the second quarter on, while compiling a whopping 452 passing yards and three touchdowns.

Pass protection

I would say the offensive line had a great game today, but it was really only with the pass. While they did a terrific job giving Ben time and helped keep him upright, they couldn’t create any space on the ground to help James Conner this week. Still, credit to their pass protection that paved the way for a 452-yard performance from their quarterback.

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Losers

Defense

I’ll save some time here and just lump all of these players together. The defense was flat-out pathetic. They surrendered 5.1 yards per carry on the day against the run and allowed a quarterback who’s not quite 23-years old to put up 326 yards and an astounding 6 touchdowns. The Chiefs offense could be among the best in the league, but this is one of the worst defensive performances I’ve seen in the past decade for the Steelers.

Antonio Brown

Nobody wants to see AB in the Losers column, but I believe he does deserve to be here after his performance Sunday. Brown was targeted a whopping 17 times but managed just 9 receptions for a mere 67 yards. Though several passes were uncatchable, Brown didn’t do much to make an impact vs the Chiefs. He also could be seen jawing on the sideline in frustration, though I won’t speculate as to what may have been said.

Special Teams

Apart from an amazing punt from Jordan Berry that rolled out at the one-yard line, Pittsburgh’s special teams had a very rough game – starting by allowing a 48-yard return by DeAnthony Thomas on the very first punt.

Coaching

I’m not going to pin this loss on the coaching staff – that award goes to the defense. However, this game was sloppy from the start. The Steelers somehow managed to commit 12 penalties for 90 yards. Even worse, the clock management at the end of the game was horrible. Knowing they needed two scores to win, the Steelers showed no urgency in trying to get a quick touchdown in the fourth. Instead, they scored with just under two minutes remaining (1:59), knowing that they still needed to get the ball back and score another touchdown to win. Not the first time we have seen poor clock management in Pittsburgh.


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