The AFC North is 2-9 over the last three weeks – the Pittsburgh Steelers have those two wins.
The Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 23-9 in what I would say is the most dominant, stress-free win in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era. The result was never in doubt, they were aggressive from the first snap, and they dominated for 60 minutes. Because of that, there will be a ton of winners and next to zero losers this week, which is always nice. Let’s get into it.
Varsity
EDGE Nick Herbig
Not only is Herbig one of the Steelers’
best players, but he has also legitimately become one of the top edge rushers in the NFL. He added two sacks to his total, giving him 4.5 in four games, and his sack rate is currently higher than T.J. Watt and Trey Hendrickson, per Next Gen Stats – he’s a star.
LB Patrick Queen
Patrick Queen is playing at an All-Pro level. He had nine tackles, a beautiful diving pass deflection that prevented a potential touchdown pass from Dillon Gabriel to David Njoku. He also nearly picked off a deflected pass. Wherever the ball was, Queen seemed to be not far behind. This is the player the Steelers were hoping they’d get when they signed him last offseason.
CB Jalen Ramsey
As Ramsey pointed out after the game, he played in the same game as Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt and had more sacks than both of them combined. The star cornerback had two sacks, marking the first time he’s ever done that in a game. A fun nugget here from Daniel Valente points out how great Ramsey and the Steelers stars have been this season. Nine players in the NFL have multiple sacks and at least one interception – the Steelers have three of them: Ramsey, Watt, and Herbig. Many thought that Ramsey’s best days were behind him, but he’s playing at a very high level.
EDGE T.J. Watt
Watt was all over the place. He had half a sack and batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage. After a slow start to the year, he’s gotten back to being his disruptive self over the last three games.
QB Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers was pushing the ball downfield a bit more than in recent weeks and showed off a few vintage plays in the process. His touchdown pass to Connor Heyward was straight out of his 2011 repertoire. Running to his right, he flung the ball across his body, just past the fingertips of a Browns defender for a touchdown. His touchdown to Metcalf was placed perfectly in stride to Metcalf in the end zone. He also had a scramble drill that ended with a little flip pass to Jaylen Warren for a first down. Rodgers now has 10 touchdowns on the year, and he continues to show that he still has what it takes
TE Darnell Washington
I was this close to ripping my shirt off and waving it like a Terrible Towel after Arthur Smith drew up a designed pass to Darnell Washington on the first play from scrimmage. The big man set the tone for the entire game with his 36-yard catch-and-run. He has become TE1 on the depth chart and is now a big part of their passing game. It may have taken three years for it to happen, but I’ll rejoice that it’s happened, nonetheless.
Offensive line
Broderick Jones deserves to be singled out here because he, along with Spencer Anderson and the help of others on the left side, blanked Myles Garrett. The Steelers gave up zero sacks for the second time in three games, and they also rushed for over 100 yards. Tremendous performance in the trenches from the Steelers.
WR DK Metcalf
Metcalf had another massive day, catching four passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. He now has a touchdown in four straight games, which ties a career high, and more than 20 percent of his catches have been touchdowns. The quantity of catches in terms of massive 10-catch performances hasn’t been there, but the quality of his catches is as good as anyone in the league.
Arthur Smith
First down passes, baby! Coming out of the gate and calling a play-action pass to Darnell Washington was the best thing Art could do, and I was so pleased with it, as well as the deep shots that were dialed up in the game. A very good showing from the Steelers’ offense, and don’t look now, but they are tied for 11th in the NFL in EPA per play.
Mike Tomlin
I know I’m critical of Mike Tomlin. Some might say too much, and you know what? That may be a fair critique. I’m certainly not perfect, and I can own that. But if I’m going to be critical of him, I also need to praise him when he does a good job, and he coached a fantastic game on Sunday. The Steelers dominated from the first play, and the result was never in doubt.
Junior-Varsity
TE Pat Freiermuth
He’s clearly been replaced as the No. 1 tight end on the roster, netting only 21 snaps on Sunday. The Steelers need to find a way to re-do his deal, which there’s a near-zero percent chance he’d be willing to do. And fair enough on his end. If a team agreed to pay me north of $12 million per year and then wanted to go back on that a year later, I’d tell them to kick rocks, too. The most likely outcome is that he gets traded.
Bad Field
Thank God Chris Boswell wasn’t injured while kicking in that divot. Too many games take place at Acrisure. I won’t pretend to know who or what entity owns the stadium or who is in charge of making so many games take place there, but it needs to be the exclusive home of the Steelers.
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