Positional Grades: Steelers vs. Chargers

In what was expected to be a knockdown, drag-out brawl between the Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium in Week 3, it was the Steelers who were the last team standing in the matchup of 2-0 teams. Pittsburgh imposed its will in the second half and pulled away for a 20-10 win to move to 3-0 under head coach Mike Tomlin, marking the fourth time in his tenure the Steelers have done that.

Against the Chargers, things didn’t start out all that well on either side of the football as the Chargers moved the ball consistently and really got after the Steelers defensively.

But things changed in the second half and the Steelers took over, landing blow after blow on the Chargers, pulling away late.

In the win, quarterback Justin Fields was impressive while Najee Harris and Cordarrelle Patterson took over late in the game on the ground. Defensively, the Steelers held the Chargers to zero net yards of offense in the second half, turning in a dominant performance when it was needed most.

The Steelers are bit banged up coming out of this one though as are the Chargers.

The record is the record though. Things are looking up.

Let’s get to some grades.

QB — B+
On a day in which the Steelers needed him the most as a passer to open things up for the run game, quarterback Justin Fields delivered.

Fields finished 25-of-32 for 245 yards and a touchdown. He carved up the Chargers underneath, especially in the middle of the field, consistently hitting some big plays there against the Chargers’ Cover-2 look.

The fourth-year veteran connected with Calvin Austin III for a big 55-yard catch-and-run over the middle for a touchdown, hit Austin for a 25-yard gain early in the second half and even had some big strikes to George Pickens, Pat Freiermuth and Scotty Miller.

Fields was poised in the pocket, made some clutch throws and really looked as comfortable in the offense as he has. He also added a 5-yard rushing touchdown to open the scoring on the day.

Heck of a performance from Fields, even with the fluky interception.

RB — B-
It took a bit, but once the Steelers really started to impose their will, it was due to the performance of Najee Harris.

Harris was a battering ram against the Chargers. Early on, things looked rather ugly as Harris had nowhere to go. But he continued to hammer away. Eventually, the dam broke.

Harris finished with 70 yards on 18 carries, sealing the win with a 21-yard run down to the 1-yard line, allowing the Steelers to kneel on the ball and improve to 3-0.

The 3.9 yards per carry doesn’t look all that great, but in the second half Harris really bludgeoned the Chargers.

It wasn’t just Harris, either.

On the final drive of the game, Cordarrelle Patterson had 33 yards on four carries — which was his final stat line for the game. He had runs of 14 and 12 yards to help salt the game away. Patterson was only called upon due to an injury to Jaylen Warren, but kudos to Patterson stepping up in a big spot and delivering.

WR — B
On a day in which it felt like the run game was going to be the deciding factor, some little-used players like Calvin Austin III and Scotty Miller made some impressive plays for the Steelers.

Miller made a huge play in the first half, breaking a tackle on a third-down catch and picking up 20 yards, leading to the Steelers’ first score of the game. Later, he had an 11-yard catch in which he forced another missed tackle and drew a facemask penalty in the process.

As for Austin, he had his breakout game. He finished with 95 yards and a touchdown on four catches, including his game-sealing 55-yard catch and run for a score, shredding the Chargers’ defense in the middle of the field. He just needed a real opportunity and got one Sunday.

George Pickens had a steady game, too, finishing with 57 yards on five receptions, including a long of 27 yards, on seven targets. His 27-yarder was key late in the first half in which he made a twisting, leaping catch from Fields to put the Steelers in field-goal range.

TE — C+
The breakout for Pat Freiermuth in Arthur Smith’s offense is coming. Sunday’s performance against the Chargers was a sign of that. Freiermuth finished with 33 yards on four catches and had an 18-yard catch and run wiped out by an illegal-formation penalty.

He also had a big drop in the middle of the field in the fourth quarter, but overall the workload was there from an opportunity standpoint. He also drew a key penalty on Chargers safety Derwin James for unnecessary roughness on a hit, resulting in 15 more yards.

Behind Freiermuth, Connor Heyward was the only other receiver with a target on the day, finishing with one catch for two yards, taking a big hit from Chargers LB Denzel Perryman in the process.

Fortunately, Darnell Washington was rock solid as a blocker again and really helped take over late in the game.

OL — C-
Things were rather ugly early. The Steelers’ offensive line had no answer early for the Chargers’ defensive front and struggled with some assignments overall.

Rookie center Zach Frazier had a high snap that blew up a third-down play. Spencer Anderson had issues in the run game getting a hat on defenders and stopping penetration. Dan Moore Jr. whiffed on a block on Khalil Mack, leading to a sack.

But the Steelers’ offensive line bounced back after that. Rookie Mason McCormick came into the game for Anderson and rotated with him and played rather well, providing a spark in the run game. Moore settled down and was steady as a run blocker and didn’t have many issues in pass protection after that.

Broderick Jones settled in, too, and handled himself well starting in place of the injured Troy Fautanu. He did have one bad rep when watching live where he allowed a pressure in the third quarter, but outside of that he looked solid. The All-22 will tell us more in the days ahead.

DL — A-
Going against a run-heavy offense like the Chargers, the Steelers’ defensive line had a tall task in front of it. Early on, there were some struggles, but like the rest of the team, the defensive line settled in and turned in a dominant performance.

The Chargers rushed for just 61 yards on 20 carries as the Steelers held them to just 3.1 yards per carry.

Cameron Heyward had a great game as he controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the day. At one point he tackled running back J.K. Dobbins through an offensive lineman, showing that his strength and power remain elite. Heyward finished with four tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss in the win.

The sack moved Heyward past James Harrison into sole possession of second place in franchise history in career sacks.

Keeanu Benton was very good, too. He was constantly in the backfield, applied plenty of pressure and was largely immovable against the run.

Larry Ogunjobi and Isaiahh Loudermilk combined to finish with five tackles in the win. They were stout at the line of scrimmage. Heck of a showing overall from the Steelers’ defensive linemen. They were great.

LB — A
Much like the Steelers’ defensive line, the linebackers were outstanding in the win.

T.J. Watt had a strong day against Joe Alt, finishing with a sack, two quarterback hits and three tackles. He also drew a key holding call early in the game on Alt to take away a big play from the Chargers.

Alex Highsmith got off to a fast start before exiting the game with a groin injury, giving way to Nick Herbig. In place of Highsmith, Herbig was outstanding. He had two key sacks, including a strip-sack in the third quarter. He finished with three total tackles, too.

Inside, Patrick Queen and Elandon Roberts were outstanding. Queen led the Steelers with eight tackles and set the physical tone against the Chargers on the first play of the game with a huge hit on Dobbins. Roberts had four tackles and a sack and was around the football quite a bit.

Queen had a dropped interception that kept him from an even bigger day.

Rookie Payton Wilson had two tackles in the game while splitting time with Roberts.

Just a very strong performance from the Steelers’ linebackers, who flew downhill against the run, tackled well and made plays in big spots.

DB — A-
Outside of a blown coverage in the first half on Quentin Johnston’s touchdown, the Steelers’ secondary was very good.

The Steelers held the Chargers to just 149 passing yards in the win.

DeShon Elliott led the Steelers’ secondary with five tackles. He was sound in coverage and played well in the box against the run.

Donte Jackson had five tackles as well, including a key tackle in the open field, and shook off a shoulder injury to play well. Joey Porter Jr. was rather good on the day, too, with a key downhill tackle against the run, showing off some physicality.

He did have the mistake on Johnston’s touchdown, firing downhill too quickly on a swing route, letting Johnston run free behind him.

Minkah Fitzpatrick had a steady game, too. He had two tackles and played well coming downhill though he was hung out to dry on Johnston’s TD by Porter.

Special Teams — A-
On a day in which I was rather concerned with Derius Davis for the Chargers in the return game, the Steelers’ special teams had a very good day.

Punter Corliss Waitman averaged 52 yards on three punts, downing one punt inside the 20-yard line. Davis had just one punt return for five yards as gunner James Pierre, elevated off the practice squad, provided a steady presence for the Steelers in that role.

Kicker Chris Boswell was 2-for-3 on field goals, his only miss coming from 62 yards. He had the distance, just missed wide right.

Rodney Williams had a big tackle on a kickoff as Davis didn’t catch the kick cleanly and then pinned the Chargers back deep. Good bounce back for the Steelers on special teams overall.