Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 things we learned in win over Patriots

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Patriots at home. They broke a 7-year curse of losing to the Pats and got a critical W for the playoff race. Here’s what we learned.

The Steelers took on the Patriots in Pittsburgh and needed a win, numerically and at this point, as a matter of pride. They got that win, 17-10, and they both held on to their lead in the AFC North playoff race and broke a 7-year curse of losing to the Pats, not to mention a 3 game losing streak. It was a critical win for the Steelers.

It was a battle throughout. The first quarter had the Steelers up 14-7 and the rest of the game was a defensive battle yielding only a field goal for each team. The Steelers defense looked prepared, particularly in the last 3 quarters. The offense didn’t wow but found its opportunities and executed.

Here’s what we learned:

Jaylen Samuels big day

After turning in just 28 yards on 11 carries last week, Jaylen Samuels lit up the stat sheet with a dominant performance filling in for James Conner. He had 142 yards on 19 carries. That’s 7.5 yards per carry. He also had 2 catches for another 30 yards. It was probably the offensive performance that won the game, not only because of that stats it added but because it gave the passing game some room to breathe.

Maybe New England saw last weeks game and decided they didn’t need to plan for Samuels. Obviously, they were wrong. Maybe Samuels just need a full 4 quarters behind him to add some confidence. Whatever happened, it’s nice to know we’ve got a performance like this sitting in the backup spot in case Conner is out again.

Sticking with Boswell, for better or worse

Boswell missed a field goal, again. On the year he’s 11 for 18. He’s missed 5 extra points too. He’s barely over 60% for field goals. The Boz has served the Burgh well for several seasons now so it’s hard to face it, but this is not the type of field goal percentage that is acceptable for an NFL team. Despite that, it’s starting to become clear the Steelers are not going to look elsewhere.

The Steelers brought in Shaun Suisham to help Boswell get through this period and they started working together last week. So the Steelers aren’t totally ignoring the problem. However, if you had any notion that the Steelers might drop Boswell and pick up a free agent to give the special teams a boost heading into the playoff, it looks like we’re just going to cross our fingers and hope for the best when it comes to the kicking game.

Big time defense

The Steelers defense was really a joke at the beginning of the season. They had no replacement for Ryan Shazier other than filling the field what seemed like a dozen random defensive backs. The running defense no good and the passing was even worse. As the season winds down, that same Pittsburgh defense shut down the Patriots offense tonight.

Brady finished the game with 279 yards, a touchdown, and an interception thanks to Joe Haden. The team was held to under 100 yards rushing. No receiver reached 100 yards, and Gronk, the bane of the Steelers defense, had only 21 yards. It was a great scheme from Butler which the players executed well. They didn’t allow any player a standout performance. This is a good defense.

Artie Burns might be out

It was a tough day for Artie Burns. He was benched for several weeks following this game. He practiced with the first team all week. Remember that big touchdown play to Chris Hogan? Ya, that was Burns. He didn’t play another snap for the rest of the game. It was a rough showing from a player who needed a good game.

In all likelihood, this was probably the last chance for Burns. He’ll probably not be resigned this offseason. He was drafted to be a number 1 corner and if he can’t fit into the number 2 stop then there’s no spot for him. We don’t need a nickel. It would take a lot to keep Burns around at this point. He’s had some good moments and solid seasons but you can’t give another 3 years off of a year like this.

Spreading the ball around

The Steelers didn’t pass for a lot of yards. They did, however, continue their trend of spreading the ball around. Despite only 235 yards through the air, 8 players split those yards up. Where this was previously a team of a few stars, this is now a team that spreads it around quite a bit.

Notably, the Steelers saw two names make a bigger impact on the stat sheet than they have in the past. One of those was Eli Rogers. After being placed on the active roster he came up with 20 yards. James Washington led the receivers with 65 yards. Maybe the Steelers finally have a 3rd and 4th receiver.

Next week, the Steelers head to New Orleans. Let’s see what we learn then.