The Steelers kept their winning streak alive against the Giants, and they head into the bye week with a 6-2 record. It was far from a lock of a game, but Pittsburgh did enough to win and maintain their spot as one of the AFC’s best-looking teams. This game was highlighted by some star performances though.
The offense once again looked good, and this is clearly Russell Wilson’s team to lose right now. On defense, we finally saw the big sack performance we were all waiting for. And lest we forget special teams, which once again came up big. Here are the 5 winners and 3 losers from the Steelers' win over the Giants.
Steelers winners:
The edge rushers
Another highlighted player(s) that once again showed up in a major way. Sack-wise, it had been quiet from the edge rushers, but both Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt got home on Monday Night Football. Highsmith in particular was impressive, destroying Chris Hubbard on almost every snap. Even when he didn’t get the sack, he was applying heavy pressure on Daniel Jones.
Watt was quieter initially, once again drumming up a lot of attention from the Giants, but he also landed two sacks, including an important strip sack. Both edge rushers looked great this week, and their continued strong play was rewarded with two sacks a piece.
Calvin Austin III
Whew, what a game from Calvin Austin! He had a 73-yard punt return that he took to the house to give the Steelers the lead in the second half. Austin later added a beautiful deep pass for his second touchdown of the game. He was the only touchdown scorer for this offense this week, and it was a strong game from the ascending receiver.
Van Jefferson
Van Jefferson is also deserving of some love this week. He finally looked like a good compliment to George Pickens and found some footing in this offense. This included a beautiful deep shot that he reeled in. Easily his best game as a Steelers player and hopefully a turning point for him in this offense.
Beanie Bishop
It wasn’t as good of a game for Beanie Bishop this week as it was during his breakout game against the Jets in Week 7, but he still made a big impact. Most importantly, he came down with the game-sealing interception. If he can continue to develop, Pittsburgh might just have something there at slot cornerback.
Steelers losers:
Broderick Jones
Things aren’t looking good for this former first-round pick. Every week, Broderick Jones seems to have a handful of really bad snaps, and he rarely has enough good plays to counter the bad. He was beaten constantly by the Giants pass rushers. He also wiped out a touchdown with yet another penalty. It may be time to consider benching him.
Red zone offense
The Steelers' offense moved the ball with ease this week, but they couldn’t capitalize when it counted the most. They flew down the field in the first half but only had nine points to show for it. You can get by with that against the Giants, but we need to see more end-zone trips to beat better teams.
Steelers run defense
Really don’t know what happened here. The Steelers' run defense had been sound, but they crumbled against one of the worst rushing attacks in the league. They were gashed all night, both on short runs and long ones. An ugly stat line that will need to be corrected during the bye week.