Sunday was a tough one for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team had been getting by in recent weeks by allowing the Steelers defense and run game to do just enough to eek out close wins against middle-of-the-road football teams. But on Sunday, the Browns took a page out of the Steelers playbook and beat them at their own game.
As we went back through the game to put together our studs and duds something became obvious. The studs were on defense (except one) and all the duds were on offense.
Stud - RB Jaylen Warren
The one guy who came to play on offense was running back Jaylen Warren. He continues to run hard on every play, even when the offensive line lets him down and his 74-yard touchdown was the only offense the team could muster. Warren only got 12 touches and finished with 145 yards of offense.
Dud - QB Kenny Pickett
Let’s get this one out of the way. Pickett was dreadful, throwing for only 106 yards. Pickett admitted after the game the offense wasn’t prepared for what the Browns defense did and he was unable to make any adjustments.
Stud - LB Elandon Roberts
With the middle of the defense a wreck, inside linebacker, Elandon Roberts really stepped up with 15 total tackles, 11 of them being solo and two tackles for loss.
Dud - TE Pat Freiermuth
The return of Pat Freiermuth was supposed to give the offense a spark. Instead, Freiermuth gets one catch and even on that play he chose to run straight into the only defender in front of him who was being blocked by a Steeler.
Stud - S Trenton Thompson
Trenton Thompson got the start straight off the practice squad and didn’t look at all out of place in the starting lineup. Thompson had five solo tackles, six total and two big passes defended.
Dud - The offensive line
I would have broken all of this down by player but honestly, the effort by this group was so up and down I just lumped them all together. There were some great individual reps for some players but especially when it came to pass blocking, this group let us down.
Stud - DT Cam Heyward
The Steelers defensive line is a completely different unit with Cam Heyward on the field. Heyward doesn’t look like he’s 100 percent yet but he went out and played hard, finishing with five total tackles and a tackle for loss.
Dud - RB Najee Harris
We hate to do this to Harris as the offensive line was underwhelming but it didn’t stop Jaylen Warren. We will never question Harris’ heart and how badly he wants to win but he didn’t run the ball well on Sunday.
Stud - EDGE T.J. Watt
It took him a while, but T.J. Watt finally got a sack which capped another strong game. He was outplayed by Myles Garrett but still finished six tackles and two tackles for loss.
Dud - P Pressley Harvin III
We aren’t sure why Pressley Harvin III is still doing the punting for Pittsburgh but he had nine more chances to show us on Sunday and he finished with a 39.4-yard average.
