The game was a story of two halves, and here are the Pittsburgh Steelers winners and losers from their upsetting loss to the Vikings.
It was a frustrating game early on, but the Steelers found a way to claw back into the contest down the stretch. It wasn’t meant to be though, as the team couldn’t overcome their early deficit to win.
It all came down to the final play, and unfortunately, the team couldn’t come away with the potential game-tying score. Here are the Steelers winners and losers from their Week 14 loss to the Minnesota Vikings:
Steelers loser: Cameron Sutton
You have to feel bad for Cameron Sutton early in this game. While he has been a fine cover corner this season, he was tasked with regularly covering Justin Jefferson on his own. The results weren’t pretty, and Sutton was picked on early in the game. While a lot of that can be blamed on play calling, he did himself little favors as the game went on.
Sutton never seemed to get his footing after the rough start. It got uglier as Sutton eventually gave up a long touchdown pass to K.J. Osborn that dealt a blow to the potential comeback. He never really looked set this week in a game where he was needed. The matchup was never going to be easy, but Sutton far and away had a tough game and will need to rebound next week.
Steelers winner: Ahkello Witherspoon
I was relatively surprised when Ahkello Witherspoon made the winners list last week after a good, but not great game. Early on, it seemed like Witherspoon was going to regress right back to where he had been earlier in the season. Jefferson blew by him, and he seemed to be out of position more often than not early in the contest.
Everything changed when ended up logging a pair of critical interceptions. The first one was due to a tipped ball while the second one was a great play by Witherspoon. He used his size to bully his man close to the line and get in position to pick off the pass. He looked like he was going to take the pick to the house but ran out of gas later on and was stopped. Still, the pick was critical for the Steelers staying alive in this game.
The past two games have been really eye-opening for Witherspoon. Originally, it seemed like he was going to be a waste of draft capital as his defensive play was horrendous. Now though, it seems as if the trade is finally paying off for the team. You can make a serious claim that the team should consider bringing Witherspoon back if he keeps this up next offseason.
Steelers loser: the run defense
Simply put, this was one of the most pathetic performances that this run defense has ever put up. While Dalvin Cook is a premier running back in the league, he was coming off an injury and wasn’t cleared to play until late in the process. He was dynamic this week, and even when the team fielded a better run defense in the second half, Cook was still a wrecking ball.
At one point in the game, Cook was averaging close to 16 yards per carry. It doesn’t matter how good of a running back you are, allowing a runner to do that on a consistent basis is pathetic as a defense. Even after the Steelers “shored up” this unit in the second half, Cook was still exploiting the defense and finding easy holes to run through.
The worst thing about this is that the run defense being bad has been a consistent trend over the past few games. Even if Cook wasn’t going to be healthy enough to play, Alexander Mattison has proven to be a capable runner to this point. This defense had to be preparing for a heavy dose of the Vikings running the ball. It didn’t matter though, as this group was a key reason this team struggled so much.
Steelers winner: Ben Roethlisberger
Had the game ended after the first half, Ben Roethlisberger would have easily been on the losers list. The veteran was frustrated and beaten down as the Vikings were controlling this team. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, Roethlisberger turns it on and starts commanding this offense. He completely turned his play around late.
He started attacking the Vikings’ secondary in a variety of ways. Short and medium passes helped keep drives alive while deep passes were stretching the secondary out and opening up running lanes. This offense hasn’t been this efficient in a few years and it was a throwback type of performance for the elderly quarterback.
While some of his passes were still off the mark and his decisions weren’t always great, Roethlisberger had arguably his best game of the season. The veteran has taken a lot of flak this season, but he showed up in this game after a slow start. He is well-deserving of praise this week as he delivered a great game after a horrible start.
Steelers loser: Kendrick Green
When I recently ranked the Steelers rookies based on their play, I had Kendrick Green as the second-worst pick behind Buddy Johnson. The only reason that Green wasn’t at the bottom of the list is because Johnson has rarely been active this week. Unfortunately, Green hasn’t done anything to make the case that he has been better than where he fell on that list.
For starters, his blocking still shows a lot of the inconsistencies that he displayed in college. A lot of this is due to him playing a relatively new position as a center. His lack of stature and technique hasn’t helped either. He is regularly getting walked back on plays which leads to pressures and run stops close to the line of scrimmage.
What has really become a concern is his ability to actually snap the ball. It seems like his technique has gotten even worse in recent weeks as his snaps are consistently coming in too high or off to the side. These have been drive killers for an offense that can barely move the ball. Green has been a major disappointment to this point. He better makes some strides next season or else a benching has to be considered.
It was a whirlwind of emotions for the Steelers as they faced the Vikings. The first half of the game was pathetic, but the team turned it around and almost made the comeback. It wasn’t meant to be though. The winners weren’t enough to overcome the losers’ fallacies this week.