Written by Gerry Dulac at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Quarterback: B
Ben Roethlisberger had his fewest passing yards of the season (167) and his longest completion (21) was his shortest in any game, but on a blustery day by the lake his most important statistic was he didn’t have a turnover. The Steelers scored only one offensive TD, and that was with two second chances because of penalties. He did engineer the three longest possession-time drives of the season.
Running backs: A
The Steelers took advantage of the second-worst rush defense in the league by continually pounding with Le’Veon Bell, who had 16 of his 28 carries in the first half for 85 yards. He also had seven catches for 50 yards before half, giving him 23 touches for 135 in the first half alone. Bell finished with 201 scrimmage yards on 36 touches, including a season-high 146 yards rushing.
Receivers: B-
It wasn’t exactly a day for big plays, and the receivers didn’t make many. Antonio Brown had eight catches for 76 yards, and his long gain of 21 yards started the TD drive at the end of the half. He also converted a fourth-and-3 that kept alive the second field-goal drive. Mostly, this was about Bell catching short passes – eight of them in all – which was illustrated when he had four short catches on the only TD drive.
Offensive line: A+
OK, so the Browns were allowing an average of 143.7 yards per game, second worst in the league, but they had yielded only two 100-yard rushers before Bell. The line did what it was supposed to do, open big holes for Bell and protect Roethlisberger, who wasn’t sacked. The Steelers had drives of 8:02, 9:18 and 9:28 – the three longest of the season – and that’s testament to the offensive line.
Defensive line: A+
It looked as though the Steelers didn’t even miss Cam Heyward, not after allowing the Browns just 19 yards rushing on seven carries in the first half and just 33 overall. DE Stephon Tuitt came up with one of his most dominating games, getting 2½ sacks, four quarterback hurries and delivering several hits. Rookie NT Javon Hargrave finally made some noise, getting a sack and recovering a fumble for a TD.
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