DB’s Steelers Dudes & Duds: Russ Coughs It Up, Austin Proves Potential
The Pittsburgh Steelers fell short in Baltimore and with a 34-17 loss in Week 16, their stronghold on the division lead is slipping away. The injury situation was certainly a tough situation to navigate but the team just got outplayed and shot themselves in the foot on multiple occasions. Any time you lose the turnover battle on the road, it’s going to be an uphill climb.
Let’s talk through some winners and losers before we set sights on the short week with eyes on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Dude: EDGE Alex Highsmith
The Charlotte product was impactful as a rusher in this one and really got going from the onset of the contest, beating Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley off the edge and stripping Lamar Jackson. The Steelers were unable to recover the fumble, which was an unfortunate them in this one, but it did knock them out of field goal range. There were multiple other quick pressures resulting in pressures that led to a negative plays for the offense. Baltimore even started to shift the attention his direction on some third downs because of his effectiveness.
Dud: QB Russell Wilson
There were certainly some really nice flashes from Russell Wilson in today’s loss but the negative plays were just killers that ultimately swung the outcome of the game. His fumble inside the five yard line was entirely avoidable situation where he could have slide instead of cut back into the teeth of the defense. After Minkah Fitzpatrick came away with a timely turnover, Wilson left a flat route inside that was intercepted and subsequently returned for a touchdown. When he was kept clean, he cooked. When there was pressure, things went haywire. He finished the game 4-10 for 22 yards, one interception and three sacks when pressured.
Dude: WR Calvin Austin III
After a four-catch, 66 yards day against the Ravens, Austin is now the Steelers second leading receiver on the season from a yardage standpoint. His best play came on a go-ball down the right sideline where he stacked the corner before contorting his body to the sideline for a sweet grab. A couple plays later, Austin won against man coverage on a crossing route over the middle for a first down. If you check the replay, he was actually open and sprinting away from his man on Wilson’s scramble attempt that ended in a fumble. Year three has been a gigantic leap forward for him and his explosive play ability has made him a solid complimentary piece for a unit desperate for help.
Duds: RG Mason McCormick and RT Broderick Jones
Lumping these two together for obvious reasons after they failed to properly pick up a stunt in the first half that resulted in Wilson getting dropped for a sack. Both struggled today. It’s been a tough stretch for the right side of the offensive line and it’s becoming pretty apparent that these two are really hurting their ability to run the football with any sort of efficiency. Prior to garbage time, the Steelers had a 26% rushing success rate. Props to them for making some adjustments on how were attempting to run it, out of the gun and with more gap concepts, but they simply can’t move anyone in the trenches. It’s tough to beat good teams when you’re one-dimensional, especially when that one-dimension is your theoretical identity as a unit.
Dude: P Corliss Waitman
It’s usually not a good sign when the punter is one of the people that immediately comes to mind when trying to figure out players who played well. However, Waitman had a really nice game and deserves kudos for that because punters are in fact people, too. On his five punt attempts, his net average was a very healthy 46.2 and three of those landed inside the twenty. If the Steelers could have found a way to recover either of Desmond King’s fumbles, it would have been a more memorable performance for this group. It was a job well done regardless.
Dud: Entire Run Defense Operation
The duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry is a tough puzzle to solve but Pittsburgh had zero answers today. The latter ran wild, amassing 162 yards on a ridiculous 6.8 per attempt clip. It felt like the Steelers overcorrected towards charging at the quarterback on read plays or bootleg fakes, which opened some massive cutback lanes that were easy for Henry to spot. Even when they were sound from a fit perspective, they missed a bunch of tackles and allowed too many explosive plays on a regular basis. This defense needs to get healthy first and foremost. But there’s a chance these two squads match up again in the postseason and if that happens, there needs to be significant improvements.
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