Joe Haden
There weren’t many reasons on the defensive side of the ball to get excited, but as bad as the game went overall, it could have been a lot worse if it weren’t for Joe Haden.
Haden covered speedy receiver John Brown for most of the game. Haden got beat a couple times, one for a touchdown, but he saved about three more. Brown kept getting lose behind Haden, in which there was supposed to be safety help over the top.
One play in particular, Brown went on a deep post, Haden trying to run with him, expecting safety help from Terrell Edmunds, matched Brown step for step, reaching over the top and knocked out a perfectly thrown ball by Joe Flacco.
Haden made some seriously great plays that kept the Steelers in the game. He has by far been the Steelers’ best player in the secondary and tonight proved that all the more. The Steelers missed the likes of Mike Hilton out of the nickel back position, but as for keeping the ball out of the end zone, Haden made more plays than he gave up.