Pittsburgh Steelers: Stock rising/falling after beatdown of Carolina

The Pittsburgh Steelers went hunting for panther last Thursday and they did not disappoint by the end of the hunt. The Steelers crushed Carolina in prime time 52-14 for their fifth win in a row.

The Steelers started slow on defense after Carolina took the opening drive all the way down for the touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. The defense looked like it was in for a long night.

That changed quickly when JuJu Smith-Schuster took the first offensive snap 75 yards for a touchdown to tie it up. Mere seconds later, Vince Williams picked off a Cam Newton pass and brought it back to take the lead for good.

The Steelers never stopped as they piled on relentlessly on their way to a blowout win. It is hard to find stock down in this game but we do have one guy, and I bet you would never guess it. Keep reading the report to find out who.

T.J. Watt – Stock: Up

Watt has played like a man possessed this season. The switch between he and Bud Dupree has paid huge dividends in the pass rush and their individual development as edge defenders.

Watt added a sack and tackle to his resume bringing his total to 56 total tackles and eight sacks through nine games. He already has one more sack than he did his entire rookie season and sits just 12 total tackles shy of his rookie season total.

Watt’s biggest play in the game has to be the same play Williams intercepted Newton. Watt supplied the pressure on a bootleg pass play by Newton and just as he was bringing Newton down, he heaved a pass in the air and we all know the rest.

Watt has shown so far he has all the makings of a great pass rusher in the league. He is really stepping up this year in a big way.

Bud Dupree – Stock: Up

Bud Dupree is the second beneficiary of the switch made by the organization. Swapping sides with Watt has proven to be a catalyst in Dupree’s development.

Dupree may not have eight sacks like his counterpart, but he does have 4.5 of them. You have to be watching the game and seeing what Dupree has down outside the stat sheet to truly appreciate what the swap has done for him.

He has drawn holding penalties a lot this year limiting his sack numbers to just 4.5. He also has put plenty of pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Although his sack numbers are lower, edge defenders are required to get pressure and disrupt plays. This doesn’t always end in a sack but even pressure can influence the outcome of plays.

The switch happening this year makes me wish it had been done last year. The jump in pressure from both players has been fun to see.

Vince Williams – Stock: Up

Vince Williams had a tall task when teammate Ryan Shazier went down. He is now THE guy at inside linebacker.

Williams has always been a tackle machine and the thunder to Shazier’s lightning. Him not having Shazier alongside him has now had him asked to play somewhat differently.

Williams has been in coverage more than I have seen him in the past. He is not the fastest guy or the best in coverage but he does whatever is asked of him.

Vince sits at 69 total tackles on the season with 2.5 sacks and of course the pick six from Thursday. Vince is one of the best blitzing linebackers in the league and, although he doesn’t, it seems like he always gets a sack when they send him.

Williams is a leader on this team and has come a long way to be where he is. He is leading a revitalized defense looking to keep playing well down the stretch.

 Ben Roethlisberger – Stock: Up

Big Ben has had a great season. Many fans look at one game out of many and use it as a base to tell Ben’s season story as they did last year with the Jacksonville game in week 5 last year.

A lot of fans have looked at week one and said he is washed up. However, since week one, Ben has 2,553 yards, 67.4 percent completions, 20 touchdowns and four interceptions through those eight games.

Those are great numbers but that week one game gets looked at and used to shoot Ben down. Big Ben is getting older and is not what he used to be, no one denies that. But to deny that he can still hang with the best of them is simply ignorant, especially given his game on Thursday.

Ben went out and demolished the Panthers secondary on Thursday night. He finished 22/25 for 328 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions. Yes, you read that right, five touchdowns to just three incomplete passes.

Ben Roethlisberger is still a top-tier passer in this league and he showed that Thursday. He may not have long left, but he is making the most of that time playing at a high level.

Artie Burns – Stock: Down

I was at the point where it was redundant to include Burns on the report due to his stock seemingly being permanently down. However, he earned it this week with the worst play he could have made.

After not getting much playing time lately (ok let’s be honest it has been none) Burns got into the game with the Steelers up 52-14. The defense was in prevent defense just looking to get the game over.

Burns was in at corner and then committed a defensive pass interference in the end zone giving Carolina the ball at the one yard-line where they eventually scored a garbage time score. Burns was immediately taken out of the game after the penalty.

This was the worst thing that could have happened to him. I feel for the kid, I really do, but it may be time to move on. He had a solid rookie season for a raw underclassmen in the draft. Something went horribly wrong between then and now as he is one of the worst corners in football.

Pittsburgh has a serious decision to make next week about whether to even activate him for the game. I believe if Burns isn’t going to play anyways, deactivate him and give Brian Allen a helmet on game day moving forward.