The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns took part

in a big divisional game at Heinz Field on Sunday Sutton Smith Pittsburgh Steelers Jersey , and the Steelers presented their loyal fan base with their first home division win of the regular season. The 33-18 victory might have been the team’s most complete performance to date, and there were some good, and bad, performances worthy of recognition.During the game, some perform well, while others fall short of the standard. This is where the Winners and Losers column comes in. After the game, when the dust settles, we decipher who falls into which category. As always, feel free to comment on the list in the comment section below. Be part of the conversation!WinnersJames ConnerStat Line: 24 carries, 146 yards, 6.1 ypc, 2 TDs / 5 rec, 6 targets, 66 yardsIt has been a long time since I’ve enjoyed watching someone play football as much as I do enjoy watching Conner tote the rock. He runs with a reckless abandon, yet has the balance and burst to be a threat in every possible way. At this point in the game, I don’t think anyone is wondering about Le’Veon Bell anymore, just wondering if the team will trade him so Conner can keep rolling.Antonio BrownStat Line: 6 receptions, 8 targets, 74 yards, 2 TDsNot a ridiculous day for No. 84, but when you catch 6 of 8 targets and score twice, it isn’t a bad day at the office. Maybe, just maybe, Brown doesn’t care about his stats anymore. Perhaps he is more focused on wins, and scoring touchdowns. Brown leads the league in touchdown receptions, and I’m sure he would exchange his receptions and yardage statistics for a Super Bowl ring.Bud DupreeStat Line: 4 tackles, 1 solo, .5 TFL, 2 QB hitsNick Farabaugh in his post-game reaction article put it best when talking about Dupree, maybe this is just who Dupree is?! If that is the case, he is far from a bust, but just an average pass rusher. Dupree did what he should have done. The Browns put all their attention on Watt Sutton Smith Jersey 2019 , and he won his one-on-one matchup against a subpar left tackle. He isn’t an elite pass rusher, but he certainly isn’t Jarvis Jones either. This was one of Dupree’s best performances as a pro, in my opinion.T.J. WattStat Line: 7 tackls, 6 solo, 1 sack, 2.5 TFL, 1 QB hitWhen Watt plays the Browns, expect him to at least continue to add to his sack total. Watt’s lone sack on Baker Mayfield gives him 7 on the season, and is just three off Aaron Donald for the league lead. Although I doubt he will break any records, sadly the Steelers don’t play the Browns again this year, Watt is having himself a banner year for such a young player. His play is improving weekly.Ben RoethlisbergerStat Line: 24/36, 257 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 1 sack, 94.3 RatingThis was the game I wanted to see from Roethlisberger, maybe except the first quarter. Take away the interception when he tried to force the ball to JuJu Smith-Schuster and Roethlisberger had a very efficient day at the office. He was only sacked once, and the Browns’ defense registered just one QB hit. Aggressive Mike TomlinStat Line: 1/1 on 4th Down ConversionsI was waiting for Chris Boswell to trot onto the field for a chip shot field goal at the end of the second quarter, but Tomlin rolled the dice of 4th down, and it paid off with a first down completion to Smith-Schuster, and then a touchdown pass to Brown to put a dagger in the Browns. Loved the call.Mike HiltonStat Line: 4 tackles, 3 solo, .5 TFL, 1 Pass DefenseYou might look at the stat line above and wonder why Hilton found his way on the winners list. After all, he didn’t have an interception or a sack, but when he is on the field the entire defense is different. Hilton is a tremendous blitzer, and I would argue he is the best slot defender in the NFL. What a steal he was when Pittsburgh claimed him off the scrap heap.Joe HadenStat Line: 3 tackls, 3 solo, 2 TFL, 2 Pass Defenses, 1 INTSome say Haden is too old. Some say Haden is injury prone. Some suggest Haden has lost a step. Well color me stupid, because what I saw on Sunday at Heinz Field was a dominant performance by Haden. The interception was nice Cheap Sutton Smith Jersey , and resulted in a touchdown for the offense, but the play which stood out to me was the swing pass to Jarvis Landry. Landry caught the pass and turned up field only to be met by Haden. Haden didn’t rush and try to tackle Landry immediately, but broke down and was ready to make a play. Landry tried an inside move, and an outside move, but Haden didn’t budge. Landry just went out of bounds. Tremendous.Offensive LineStat Line: 168 total yards rushing, 2 rushing touchdowns, surrendered 1 sack, and only 1 QB hitI always see these silly position rankings around the internet, and when talking about offensive lines, no one ever puts the Steelers’ unit at the top. Not sure why. In the past three games they have surrendered just one sack, and two QB hits. On top of that, James Conner has been running wild through gaping holes which you could drive a truck through. Oh, and this week Marcus Gilbert wasn’t in the lineup, but Matt Feiler. Anyone notice a difference? I sure didn’t. Mike Munchak for president!LosersRyan Switzer/Roosevelt Nix/Danny SmithStat Line: Are you serious?Against a different team this mistake would have been the straw which broke the camel’s back. In our post-game podcast, which can be heard above, we asked whether this was on the players or the coaches. My answer is both! After the safety Danny Smith had time to get his unit together and remind them this is a live ball after being kicked. Sure, Nix’s fair catch signal was strange, but Switzer, who is known as a return specialist, should know the rules and still have caught the football. Plenty of blame to go around...I’m just thankful it didn’t cost the team the game.PenaltiesStat Line: 8 penalties for 60 yardsThe penalties weren’t as bad as it looked at the start of the game, but this team sure knows how to compound sloppy play with stupid penalties. Need to play a cleaner brand of football next week vs. the Ravens.The 1st QuarterStat Line: Offense didn’t obtain a first down till the second quarterThe defense gave up 6 points, should have been more, and the offense didn’t get a first down the entire quarter. I know coming off the bye week can a slow adjustment, but this team needs to develop more consistency when starting games.3rd Down OffenseStat Line: 6-for-13 on 3rd down conversionsBelow .500 in 3rd down offense is not acceptable in the NFL. The teams who make it far are teams who know how to move the chains and create long, time consuming, drives. The Steelers got their act together in the second half, but the first half was rough. On the flip side, I should say how the Steelers’ defense did a tremendous job on third downs, holding the Browns to 3-for-13 on the key down.In all facets, the Steelers’ 3-pronged ILB rotation is a disaster waiting to happen Well, it seems the Steelers indeed will be without Vince Williams against the Atlanta Falcons at home on Sunday. Williams has been an incredibly underwhelming presence on the defense, and I dare say he’s currently playing himself right out of a starting job Jon Bostic Jersey , should one of his three understudies step up.But that would imply this experiment might possibly prove to be a positive. After all, there are three hungry linebackers who want their shots at getting more snaps once Williams returns to the fold. Maybe these guys will offer something Williams does not, and they might at least somewhat remedy an ailing defense as it goes against a top-5 offense in the NFL. Unfortunately for us all, the Steelers’ coaches not only ignore the shortcomings of these backups, which cause the idea to be so horrendous, but they also refuse to watch the tape, to give them an idea of the guys who ought to be playing. It seems that’s a huge issue with the Steelers’ current coaching staff. Offensively, it’s curious how the Steelers never use play-action when it works every time they run it. Or why not give Jaylen Samuels some opportunities to play when James Conner and Stevan Ridley are getting stuffed? In the case of their linebackers, though, it’s why not give Matthew Thomas and L.J. Fort all the snaps after what they’ve shown on tape.If anyone watched tape from the Ravens game, they’d see that, in relief of Vince Williams, L.J. Fort actually played pretty well. Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora broke down in two GIFs how L.J. Fort made a difference in the run game right away. Fort makes two excellent reads and navigates through traffic well on both. The rip on the first one is particularly well done. That’s what they call ‘getting skinny.’ On both plays, you can see Fort has the athletic ability that the Steelers have been missing. His range allows him to make those plays and, if anything, he deserves more snaps for plays like this. But instead, he’s shunned to the sub-packages for Tyler Matakevich in base. The most egregiously non-athletic ILB in the NFL is going to be the one you want covering running plays and going into the flat to deal with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman? That’s not going to work, and this ‘sprinkling in’ of Matthew Thomas needs to be in higher doses. We know Thomas is a raw project, but this team needs some athletic play-making in the middle of the defense.Who offers that? Matthew Thomas and L.J. Fort — so play them. Unfortunately, personnel decisions aren’t the only reason why this is a terrible idea. Since we all know it should be Fort and Thomas getting the bulk of the playing time, why are we rotating three ILBs in the first place? First off, the Special Teams is already hurting heavily with two of its top-3 players down for the count this week. Nat Berhe is done for the season with a torn pectoral muscle and Darrius Heyward-Bey is out with an ankle injury. If Matakevich happens to get injured, and he is a great special-teamer, you’ll be down your three core special-teamers. Not exactly what I’d like to see. But even more importantly, you’re now running two councils — one of four guys at CB2 and three now at ILB. In the past two weeks during which you employed that CB2 council, there were frequent instances of 12 men on the field and 10 men on the field. Personnel didn’t know the play call on many occasions. So now you suddenly think this will change because of this rotation?I highly doubt it and I predict more 12-men-on-the-field penalties this week. You are without your two main communicators on the defense in Vince Williams and Morgan Burnett. Those two are the guys that would communicate the defense if you will. Who does that now?It will likely have to be either Cam Heyward or Joe Haden, which means your main means of communication will never be in the middle of the field. If it happens to be Sean Davis, the young kid ought to be focusing on his improvement at FS — not worrying about handling communication on top of it. And if it’s Jon Bostic — well how do we even know he’s ready to call plays from a playbook he picked up about five months ago?Disarray is going to be afoot on the Steelers’ defense this week and possibly worse than ever. In terms of communication, Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler better have their straps buckled in tight. They’ll need it.