The Steelers lost a heart-breaker on their home turf against the Seahawks. Here are Pittsburgh’s winners and losers from the game.
The Steelers were favored at home this week against the Seattle Seahawks, but the offensive woes continued into week two.
Ben Roethlisberger and company came out flat yet again and Pittsburgh drops to 0-2 on the season. Here are the winners and losers from the game:
Winners:
Stephon Tuitt
Stephon Tuitt was unbelievable in the first half against the Seahawks. He was consistently beating his man to level Russel Wilson and shut down the running game. He looks poised for the best season of his career so far. He finished with 2.5 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss, and 3 quarterback hits.
T.J. Watt
Watt was briefly sidelined in this contest, but fortunately, he returned to action. The Pro Bowl edge rusher was excellent for the Steelers – disrupting the run and getting after the quarterback. He earned 6 tackles and a sack against Seattle.
Mason Rudolph
Ben Roethlisberger really struggled in the first half before leaving the game with an injury. However, there was a night and day difference when Mason Rudolph came in the game.
Rudolph was cool, calm, and collected when he entered the game. He made some nice plays down the field and found receivers much easier than Ben did in the first half. He showed a lot of promise in his first NFL action.
Steven Nelson
Despite being targeted often, Nelson did a terrific job matching up with DK Metcalf. He had a very promising showing and should be a solid piece of the puzzle moving forward for the Steelers.
Jaylen Samuels
James Conner came up lame with a knee injury in this game, but his backup stepped up. Jaylen Samuels had several nice runs and churned out solid yardage on the ground.
Losers:
Ben Roethlisberger
Injury or not, Ben Roethlisberger really struggled to get things going in the first half. He looked nervous in the pocket and he was rarely able to find open receivers down the field. He finished the game just 8 of 15 for 75 yards.
Donte Moncrief
Donte Moncrief dropped his lone pass in the first half. The Mason Rudolph throw that should have gone for a first down bounced right off the hands of the receiver for an interception.
He caught just 3 of 10 targets last week, and his second consecutive dismal showing should start to bury him on the depth chart.
Terrell Edmunds/Sean Davis
The Steelers defense did a pretty good job overall, but the safeties were the weak link in this one. Sean Davis and Terrell Edmunds both had breakdowns in coverage, and Edmunds had a costly pass interference penalty in the fourth quarter that ultimately led to a Seahawks touchdown.
James Conner
Conner had some tough sledding on the ground today and managed just 33 yards on 11 carries. It didn’t help that he left the game early with a knee injury.
The Steelers failed to take care of business for the second consecutive week as they lost 28-26 at home. Mason Rudolph provided a much-needed spark in his first action, but it’s unclear when Ben Roethlisberger will be back on the field. The Steelers will need to pick up the pace in a hurry if they want to be competitive this year.