The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the New England Patriots 55-31 on Sunday and below is my list of winners and losers from the game. Feel free to add your own in the comments below and I do expect a ton of them.
Winners:
Jerricho Cotchery – Seven catches for 96 yards and three touchdowns makes Cotchery a winner. The adjustment that he made on the first touchdown catch was fantastic. He is not blazing fast, but he knows his assignments.
Cameron Heyward – Once he got his motor started, Heyward did not slow down. Not only did he provide consistent pressure, he recorded a sack and five total tackles. He was easily the best player on the Steelers defense in this game.
Guy Whimper – Don’t be surprised if Whimper grades out as the Steelers best offensive lineman. Outside of the early pressure allowed in the game, he had a very clean game at right guard filling in for the injured David DeCastro. You are not going to confuse him for DeCastro, mind you, but he represented himself well.
Jonathan Dwyer – Dwyer touched the ball twice and not only did he set a new longest run for the season (30), he produced 53 yards of offense when you add in his one catch for 23 yards. If that wasn’t enough, he also retuned two kickoffs for 38 yards with a long of 23.
Losers:
Troy Polamalu – Worst game since perhaps the 2010 game against the New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Tom Brady moved him around with ease with his eyes and it resulted in two easy touchdowns.
Ryan Clark – Clark not only missed several tackles, but like Polamalu, he was a liability in coverage. Both he and Polamalu were guessing a lot and guessing wrong.
Lawrence Timmons – Timmons was out of position several times and he missed quite a few tackles. He couldn’t get off blocks and couldn’t wade through trash.
Kelvin Beachum – Beachum will easily grade out as the worst offensive linemen as he allowed two sacks and several pressures in the game.
