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Winners and losers from Week 3
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-0. Insert Paul Rudd “Who would’ve thought?” meme here.
Pittsburgh defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 20-10, giving the Bolts their first loss of the year. As always, we’ll dive into the players who made the biggest difference – both good and bad. Here are this week’s Varsity and JV performers.
Varsity
QB Justin Fields
Fields had his best game as a Steeler, and looked comfortable in doing so. He went 25-of-32 for 245 yards, a passing touchdown, and a rushing touchdown. The rushing score tied the game at seven and capped off a 12-play, 70 yard drive. The 55 yard passing score to Calvin Austin put the Steelers up double digits and sealed the deal. While Fields has always been known as more of a run-first dual-threat, he only ran for six yards in this game – this was about him fitting the ball in tight windows and stepping up when the team needed him to. We saw Baker Mayfield find a home in Tampa with the Buccaneers after being exiled from Cleveland, and it looks like Fields is finding his home in Pittsburgh.
EDGE Nick Herbig
Herbig had the best game of his young career. He had two sacks, one of which was a strip sack. He constantly shows how great his jump is off the snap and his first step off the edge is incredible. He’s a rising star in the league.
WR Calvin Austin III
Speaking of best games as a pro, hello Calvin Austin. The Memphis product had a career-high 95 yards, including the aforementioned 55 yard score. Pittsburgh needed another receiver not named George Pickens to step up, and they got that out of Austin.
DT Cam Heyward
Heyward was moving dudes on Sunday. He had his way with the Chargers’ offensive line, getting in the backfield for two tackles for loss and one sack. Even in his late 30s, Heyward is one of the best interior linemen in football.
LB Patrick Queen
Queen had his best game as a Steeler. He had a team-high eight tackles and was flying all over the field.
LB Elandon Roberts
Don’t forget about Elandon Roberts. He had a sack and a tackle for loss, as well as four total tackles on the day. He was one of several defenders that helped the Steelers hold the No. 1 ground attack in the NFL to just 61 yards and 3.1 yards per carry.
EDGE T.J. Watt
CTRL-ALT-DELTE this.
Meet T.J. Watt, Joe – he’s the best player in football. Watt had a sack, which marks one sack in each game thus far for No. 90. If not for a holding call on Alt, he probably would have gotten to Justin Herbert for an additional sack early in the first half. He is the best defensive player in the game, the best overall player in football, and an absolute game-wrecker.
Closing
The Steelers’ run game was anemic all day, but Najee Harris and Cordarrelle Patterson put the game away on the game’s final drive. They combined for 69 rushing yards to seal the deal, including a 21 yard rumble by Harris to get down to the one, which led to two kneel downs to get the clock to triple zeroes.
Junior-Varsity
Missed opportunities
There was one play in particular on defense that really stood out. Alex Highsmith whiffed on a sack, and then Patrick Queen dropped an interception. Both get paid big money to make those plays. This defense is far too expensive to let plays like that slip them by. Pat Freiermuth also had a drop on a seed from Fields over the middle of the field. This isn’t to say guys have to play 100 percent perfect – no one can do that. However, in critical moments, they are expected to make those game-changing plays.
Running the ball
Ahead of the final drive, the Steelers had just 45 yards on the ground. Luckily, the passing game took off when it needed to, but they need to get their issues in the run game figured out and put together a complete performance.
Toss plays
If I see one more toss out of shotgun or pistol that loses four yards, I’m going to launch a brick through my TV. Art, you’re doing a good job, but throw that play into the Monongahela.