Steelers Report Card: Game 11 vs. Chiefs

[hawaiiansteel]

Steelers Report Card: Game 11 vs. Chiefs

Gerry Dulac grades the Steelers' effort Sunday in their victory against Kansas City

Monday, November 28, 2011
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Mewelde Moore fumbles the ball in the first quarter as he stretches for the goal line. The Chiefs recovered in the end zone, negating the Steelers' first scoring chance of the night.

QUARTERBACKS C

A fractured right thumb did not appear to bother Ben Roethlisberger, especially on the opening series when he completed five of six passes for 76 yards. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 127 yards in the first half, but the offense failed to take advantage of good field position after three takeaways by the defense. And it didn't get any better in the second half -- a poor throw into double coverage was picked.

RUNNING BACKS C+

The Steelers didn't attack the league's 28th ranked rush defense as much as they should have in the first half, rushing 13 times for 53 yards. Rashard Mendenhall had 21 yards on six carries in the first half and finished with 57 yards on 17 attempts. Mistakes hurt the offense in the first half, including Mewelde Moore's fumble. Moore had a couple big plays, though, on the field-goal drive at the end of the half.

WIDE RECEIVERS C

Probably the most notable accomplishment was Hines Ward starting and catching four passes for 21 yards. Antonio Brown had two of his four catches for 51 yards that ended with Moore's fumble in the end zone and TE Heath Miller had a costly holding penalty that wiped out a 21-yard Mendenhall run. TE Weslye Saunders made a nice catch in the back of the end zone on his 2-yard TD.

OFFENSIVE LINE C-

More juggling up front, but that wasn't to blame for some of the sloppy protection. Doug Legursky, who replaced Chris Kemoeatu as the starting LG, moved to center in the second quarter because Maurkice Pouncey was sick. It was a tough first half for LT Max Starks, who gave up a sack and had two penalties. The Chiefs had an AFC-low 12 sacks in 10 games but had two against Roethlisberger.

DEFENSIVE LINE C-

The line appeared to settle down after allowing the Chiefs to rush for 19 yards on five of the first six plays that resulted in a field goal. But then they let the Chiefs control the ball for 13 plays on a field-goal drive that made it 13-9. And letting the Chiefs have two long drives late in the fourth quarter was inexcusable for a defense that has made a habit of blowing leads. Good thing for DE Brett Keisel, who recovered a fumble.

LINEBACKERS C+

Too many underneath passes and not enough pressure on QB Tyler Palko allowed a bad Chiefs offense to hang in the game. The Steelers pressured Palko into bad throws but didn't register a sack until Jason Worilds got his first of the season late in the third quarter. ILB Lawrence Timmons made a nice play to blow up a wildcat run on third-and-1. Worilds was the best linebacker on the field.

DEFENSIVE BACKS B

Three interceptions in one game after just four in the first 10 sounds good, but Palko threw the ball right to Ike Taylor and Ryan Mundy on the first two. CB Keenan Lewis made a nice leaping pick to end a final threat. After having only six takeaways in the first 10 games, the Steelers had three in the first half. Mundy was replacing S Troy Polamalu, who left the game in the first quarter with a head injury.

SPECIAL TEAMS B-

The Steelers didn't make any splash plays in the return game, but their coverage units were solid again. Shaun Suisham kicked a pair of field goals in the first half, including a 49-yarder with no time remaining to give the Steelers a 13-6 lead. Not a good move all the way around when Steelers wasted a timeout and P Jeremy Kapinos punted into the end zone from KC 39.

COACHING C

A sloppy performance against a team that came within 37 yards of pulling an embarrassing upset is not exactly encouraging. Too many gaffes in the first half cost the Steelers several scoring chances, but they benefitted from two KC defensive holding penalties on their lone TD drive. A defense that had just six takeaways in the first 10 games came up with three in the first half, even though it led to only 10 points.

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[flippy]

Ds and Fs across the board would be more accurate across the board.

Worst performance - Mike Wallace. His bad hands finally caught up with him. He dropped 2 potential TD passes that would have made this game a cakewalk.

I'm giving up on Mendy and our running game. Guy has no vision. No power. No heart. He's a good runner in the open field, but there's never any open field for him and we have no use for him in this offense. Might as well cut him now.

And I'm not sure if I'm more tired of Arians or Lebeau at this point. Part of our problem is in the trenches on both sides of the ball. We have almost 0 talent on either line. But our play calling just sucks. We're the most conservative and predictable team on the planet on both sides of the ball. At the end of the day our QB is under constant pressure and we can't get any pressure on an opposing QB even when we blitz.

Our defensive front 7 plays about as well as our Oline. Not sure which unit is worse, but these are 2 of the worst units in the NFL and the source of our problems.

[WindyCitySteel]

Our defensive front 7 plays about as well as our Oline. Not sure which unit is worse, but these are 2 of the worst units in the NFL and the source of our problems.

Silliness. The front 7 isn't as good as in year's past, especially with Woodley out, but they're certainly not one of the worst in the NFL. We're still 2nd in the league in total defense. The OL, when healthy, is middle of the pack. Last night they were not healthy.

That said, I'd like to see Hamp on the bench more and give someone else a shot. He looks to be all but done. Also, why isn't Sly getting some reps? Foote and Farrior are not bringing much to the table.

[DukieBoy]

I'm thinking Tyler Palko should be graded as one of our QB's. He won the game for us.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

That said, I'd like to see Hamp on the bench more and give someone else a shot. He looks to be all but done. Also, why isn't Sly getting some reps? Foote and Farrior are not bringing much to the table.

I think Sly was out due to injury.

[Ghost]

He may have give C's to everyone but collectively that was a big fat F for the Offense. 4 turnovers and they got 13 points. Total disgrace.

This red zone O flat out sucks. I pray for a long play into the endzone b/c getting to the 3 or 4 is a brutal struggle to get it in.

[feltdizz]

Ds and Fs across the board would be more accurate across the board.

Worst performance - Mike Wallace. His bad hands finally caught up with him. He dropped 2 potential TD passes that would have made this game a cakewalk.

I'm giving up on Mendy and our running game. Guy has no vision. No power. No heart. He's a good runner in the open field, but there's never any open field for him and we have no use for him in this offense. Might as well cut him now.

And I'm not sure if I'm more tired of Arians or Lebeau at this point. Part of our problem is in the trenches on both sides of the ball. We have almost 0 talent on either line. But our play calling just sucks. We're the most conservative and predictable team on the planet on both sides of the ball. At the end of the day our QB is under constant pressure and we can't get any pressure on an opposing QB even when we blitz.

Our defensive front 7 plays about as well as our Oline. Not sure which unit is worse, but these are 2 of the worst units in the NFL and the source of our problems.

not sure why either coach is under fire... Lebeau's D had 4 INT's and the offense had drops, fumble and plenty of miscues

The Mendy thing is over... how does that guy catch a ball in the flat and not get in the end zone. Dude keeps doing the icky shuffle.

[hawaiiansteel]

Keenan Lewis is Digest Player of Week

By Bob Labriola - Steelers Digest


It wasn’t supposed to unfold this way – as a game where a single snap of the ball in the fourth quarter could determine the outcome – but that’s how it turned out last Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The Steelers defense was on the field at the end, and it needed to make a stop. On the final Chiefs possession, Keenan Lewis made two plays to facilitate that.

Lewis got his hand on the ball to force an incomplete pass along the sideline for Steve Breaston, and then he intercepted Tyler Palko with less than a minute left to clinch the outcome for the Steelers.

Keenan Lewis is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.

Also considered were Ryan Mundy, who had 10 tackles and an interception while playing an increased role following Troy Polamalu’s injury; Jason Worilds, who had six tackles, one sack and four pressures; and Shaun Suisham, who was 2-for-2 in field goals, including one from 49 yards, and had two kickoffs go for touchbacks.

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