Quarterback
The malaise that has infected the offense includes the quarterback, who has been too inconsistent to convert third downs (4 of 11) and mount drives. Ben Roethlisberger missed on 17 passes against the Bears and lost a fumble on a sack. The lone exception came when he was 7 of 9 for 63 yards on the first TD drive. Maybe the offense that is alleged to have so many dangerous weapons isn’t so dangerous after all.
Grade: D
Running backs
It is apparent the Steelers are going to run Le’Veon Bell until he starts to look like Le’Veon Bell — if he does. Right now, Bell looks more like a plow horse, grinding out tough yards instead of looking the way the Bears looked against the Steelers. He had 61 yards rushing and 37 receiving against the Bears, but his longest run was 13 yards. Conversely, the Bears had eight runs of 13 yards or longer.
Grade: D-
Receivers
If not for Antonio Brown, the offense would be even more dreadful than it already appears. He had 10 catches for 110 yards and had his first touchdown of the season, but he was targeted just four times in the second half even though the Steelers were trailing. Otherwise, Martavis Bryant and JuJu Smith-Schuster combined for four catches and 69 yards. Eli Rogers was shut out.
Grade: D+
Offensive line
The numbers looked respectable — 17 carries for 70 yards rushing — but the results do not. Roethlisberger was sacked three times, lost a fumble on one, and was under a lot of pressure from the Bears defensive line. Part of that was because they played most of the game without two starters — Marcus Gilbert and Ramon Foster (hand). Like everything else with the offense, there is no consistency.
Grade: F
Defensive line
It didn’t matter which way the Bears ran the stretch play — left or right — the Steelers couldn’t stop it, especially in overtime. The Bears rushed for 220 yards, the most since Miami had 222 against them in October 2016, and averaged 5.8 yards on 38 carries. It was so bad the Bears had nine runs of 10 or more yards, including four of at least 18 yards. Three of those came in overtime.
Grade: F
Linebackers
Missed tackles and blown gaps are often the culprits when teams use a zone-blocking scheme to shred a defense. And the result of that are cutback runs to the weak side, which is how the Bears tore through the Steelers and exploited the linebackers. The most glaring came when Jordan Howard, who had 138 yards on 23 carries, scored on a 19-yard run in OT. Howard had seven runs of 11 yards or longer.
Grade: F
Secondary
Because the Bears had such success running the ball, the Bears didn’t really need to test the secondary, not that Mike Glennon could. He passed for 101 yards on 22 attempts and didn’t have a completion longer than 17 yards. He was also picked off by S J.J. Wilcox. His best throw was a 17-yarder on second-and-16 that kept alive their second TD drive. Still, where was the secondary on those runs in overtime?
Grade: D
Special teams
After two games of making significant plays, the Steelers gave two when Eli Rogers fumbled the first punt, leading to a touchdown, and Chris Boswell’s 36-yard field goal was blocked and returned for what looked to be a 73-yard TD return. The only good news was the hustle shown by TE Vance McDonald to chase down Marcus Cooper and force a fumble at the goalline.
Grade: F
Coaching
The offense that is supposed to be so productive has been anything but for three games. They can’t run or throw with any amount of consistency and would be in big trouble without Antonio Brown. Not only was the defense shredded by the Bears running game, they did nothing to adjust and stop the stretch play that was killing them the entire game. And it’s another road loss to a team they were favored to beat.
Grade: F
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac.
First Published: September 25, 2017, 3:01 a.m.
