The Pittsburgh Steelers were back on the field Sunday for the first time of the 2024 regular season when they traveled to play the Denver Broncos in Week 2 of regular season action. The Steelers were winners in the contest, but that doesn’t mean every player had a good or bad performance.

Players who play well can be considered ‘Winners’, while those who left a lot to be desired can be called ‘Losers’. It may sound harsh, but it is the crux of this exercise.

Let’s check in to see who fell on which side of the ledger after the latest game…

Winners

1st Half Offense
Stat Line: 189 yards, 13 first downs, 10 points

The Steelers came out of the gate strong, and it had fans thinking this game was going to be an easy one. We all should know better at this point, but the offense coming out strong was a sign of what they are capable of. Dare I say their potential. But then the second half came, more on that in the losers side of the docket, but the Steelers offense in the first half was balanced and calculated. We all knew this offense would take time to gel, and the fan base is still waiting for their first 4 quarter performance of the season.

George Pickens
Stat Line: 2 catches for 39 yards, he’s a difference maker

George Pickens stat line isn’t impressive, but if two plays weren’t negated by penalties he would have totaled over 100 yards and a touchdown. Instead, his numbers were very pedestrian; however, in case fans haven’t noticed yet, Pickens is a true WR1 in the NFL. He went toe-to-toe with Pat Surtain the entire game and won more of these battles than he lost. As the kids say these days, “He is HIM.”

Darnell Washington
Stat Line: 1 catch, 5 yards, 1 TD, 1 target

The man people call Mount Washington finally got a red-zone target. That’s right, the red-zone target in the Week 2 game of the 2024 regular season was the first time he was targeted in the red-zone. He was drafted in 2023, in case you forgot. Great to see them utilize his size as a mismatch in the red-zone, and I can only speak for myself when I saw him flex out wide with a cornerback covering him I knew the play was going there no matter what. Good for Washington to finally get into the end zone.

Steelers Red-Zone Defense
Stat Line: 6 points surrendered, 1 INT (0-for-3)

The Steelers defense was dominant, but this is the NFL. Teams are going to move the ball eventually, even a team with a rookie quarterback at the helm. But can you stop them when it matters most? That’s exactly what they did by stopping the Broncos offense in their three red-zone trips. The Cory Trice interception, more on that in a bit, certainly aided the Steelers’ cause. Bend, but don’t break doesn’t work without a good red-zone defense.

Corliss Waitman
Stat Line: 8 punts, 53 ave., 3 TB, 2 Inside 20

After losing Cameron Johnston for the season, it was expected the team would bring in one of the three punters the team most recently employed. Waitman had spent time with the Steelers, and thankfully was the man who won the job. He was called on to do a lot, and he did plenty for the Steelers in Denver, where he used to play. Waitman also deserves credit for his holding duties, which shouldn’t be forgotten when the team is relying so much on Chris Boswell.

Alex Highsmith/T.J. Watt
Stat Lines:

Highsmith: 4 tackles, 4 solo, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 QB Hit
Watt: 3 tackles, 2 solo, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 PD, 2 QB Hits

The Steelers ask a lot of their outside linebackers in their scheme, and those two players stood out in a big way Sunday in Denver. Those stat lines alone tell a lot about the Steelers’ outside linebackers, but it doesn’t show the amount of time they spent in coverage throughout this game. These two guys did a lot in both the run game and pass game Sunday, and it’s worthy of praise.

Cory Trice
Stat Line: Red-Zone INT

The second of the feel-good stories on the winners list, Cory Trice gets inserted into the lineup after Donte Jackson leaves with cramping, and goes about having his first career interception. Oh yeah, it also happened in the red-zone and took at least 3, if not 7, points off the board for Denver. Throw in the fact Trice has dealt with a lot in his career and you just feel happy for the guy.

DeShon Elliott
Stat Line: 9 tackles, 4 solo, 1 TFL

I said it last week, and I’ll say it again. I thought DeShon Elliott was a player who would replace Terrell Edmunds’ role of letting Minkah Fitzpatrick be Minkah Fitzpatrick. I stand by that comment, even with Edmunds now back on the roster, but I don’t believe Elliott is just another guy anymore. He led the team in tackles, was flying around, and showed off his hands last week with a nifty diving interception. Elliott looks good in No. 25, and reminds me of Ryan Clark. Clark wasn’t just “another guy”, and neither is Elliott.

Road Wins
Stat Line: Never apologize for those

That stat line says it all. Never apologize for winning road games in the NFL. They aren’t easy, no matter what anyone says.

Losers

Broderick Jones
Stat Line: 3 penalties in one drive

I’ll get to the offensive tackle “rotation” a little later, but the drive Jones entered the game was brutal. So brutal he didn’t even survive the drive. After the game Tomlin was asked if Jones was benched due to his poor play, and the coach’s response was simple, “You got that right.” I can’t say Jones has been given the best chance to succeed since being drafted in Round 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft, but his play was absolutely abysmal in this game. All 3 penalties absolutely killed a drive which started on the 1-yard line. Brutal.

Penalties
Stat Line: 10-for-74 yards

If the Steelers want to be considered legitimate threats in the AFC North, AFC, and NFL, they have to cut back on the penalties. In two games the Steelers have had a number of big-time plays negated by penalties. Good teams don’t do that. This comes down to coaching and execution, both of which need to be cleaned up if this team wants to be taken seriously.

Offensive Tackle “Rotation”
Stat Line: Why?!

Let me paint a likely picture for you. At some point this week the coaching staff had a meeting and someone said Troy Fautanu is healthy enough to play, and good enough to start. This interaction might have gone like this…

“I think Fautanu could start this week.”

“I agree, but what do we do with Broderick Jones?”

“Hear me out…what if we rotated them.”

“Rotated how?”

“What if we gave Fautanu two drives, then put in Jones?”

And at some point Mike Tomlin agreed with this plan. To me, this isn’t like a running back by committee. The offensive line has to be a cohesive unit all working together. Again, just my opinion, but inserting a player who was standing on the sideline for 4 total drives between both teams and then going in for a player who had been starting the team’s two first drives seems idiotic. Maybe I’m wrong, but I didn’t like the idea, concept, and especially the execution.

Officials
Stat Line: What’s the fix?

The officiating is awful, but it’s been awful for years now. This isn’t just a one game thing, but what’s the fix? That is well above my pay grade, but the NFL has to start addressing the officiating for multiple reasons. Consistency has always been an issue, and when you see the holding call on Dan Moore Jr., and then see how tackles handle T.J. Watt without a flag and it doesn’t add up. On top of consistency, the quantity of flags is another issue. When my 6 year-old, who just likes to yell at the TV not knowing what she is watching or saying, says this unprompted it should tell you something.

My six year old just said, “How much flags are there?!”

I agree

— Jeff Hartman (@JHartman_PIT) September 15, 2024

As for the fix for the officiating? I have no clue…

2nd Half Offense
Stat Line: 62 yards, 3 first downs, 3 points

For as good as the Steelers was in the first half, they were equally as bad in the second half. However, I do have to note the penalties and an overall philosophy on the offensive side of the ball to kill clock didn’t help. But the production in the second half just wasn’t good enough, and it certainly inserted plenty of doubt into fans’ heads despite winning the game.

3rd Down Offense
Stat Line: 4-for-13

I’ve said this for years now. My goal is to see the Steelers offense achieve 50% on 3rd down conversions. I know the NFL average is typically around 40%, but I don’t care. To be on the winners list, it has to be 50%, and this was far below that number. The Steelers didn’t win those “money downs” and has to be something to fix moving forward.

If you want a more detailed look at the above list, check out my “Let’s Ride” podcast in the player below where I outline each Winner and Loser, and MORE!