Steelers Working on Day Off, Grades and Report Cards
By Kim Myers
The Pittsburgh Steelers will travel to Atlanta for their final road game of the 2014 season to face the Falcons. While they’re working on the goal of winning out to secure a playoff spot, we’ll be busy looking for mentions of your Black & Gold so we’ve got you covered. Here’s your Steelers Morning Huddle for Tuesday, Dec. 9th.
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No days off
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin gave the team Monday off in rewards for their victorious performance over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. However, as Teresa Varley points out, Steelers headquarters were full of players on Monday either in the weight room, training room, or breaking down game film. Steelers starting center Maurkice Pouncey explains that the team has a sense of urgency about what needs to be done down the stretch.
"“You have to know it’s time. Our focus has to be on what we need to do this week. A lot of us are in here today getting in a good workout, watching film. It’s about focusing in on what’s important.” – Maurkice Pouncey"
Steelers Grades
ESPN’s Scott Brown graded the Steelers following their 42-21 win over the Bengals. Ben Roethlisberger graded an A-; he apparently took points off for the slow start as Roethlisberger threw for only 19 yards in the first quarter. Not surprisingly, RB Le’Veon Bell scored an A for his monster performance, racking up over 200 all-purpose yards. The receivers and offensive line round out the offense with A’s as well. The defensive line scored a B- for limiting Cincy to 86 rushing yards. The linebackers scored a C+ while the secondary graded a D for obvious reasons. Brown gave the coaching staff for decisions like sticking with the run game on Cincy and not being too gun shy with the lead in the fourth quarter with the 94-yard bomb Ben threw to Martavis Bryant.
Steelers Report Card
Gerry Dulac of the PPG handed out grades himself for the Steelers, with a lot of similarities to Brown’s grades. He graded the offensive line an A+ for not allowing a sack on Roethlisberger for just the second time this season and their excellent run blocking that paved the way for Bell to have such an awesome game. He gave the secondary a D as well and called out safety Troy Polamalu for looking lost on two of the Bengals’ longest plays – a 56-yard pass to A.J. Green that set up a touchdown, and Andy Dalton’s 20-yard scoring run.