Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell was declared a Winner in our Winners-and-Losers column after the Steelers' 27-24 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 11. That was about as big a no-brainer as it gets.
We probably should have added Steelers' defensive end Brett Keisel as well.
Pro Football Focus, an NFL plays-evaluation web site, gave Keisel a 4.7 grade in their initial review of the game, after he was credited with a quarterback hit, a hurry and two tipped passes in the win. Keisel was disruptive, particularly in the Steelers' sub packages, as he generally played well in their front seven on passing downs. They had some struggles collectively against the run, but it was a decent performance against an offensive line that hasn't always played up to its level of talent.
We initially didn't think enough of the performance of tight end Heath Miller to put him in the Winners side as well, feeling his pass protection was rough enough to negate an excellent receiving day. PFF disagrees with us, having given Miller a 3.9 grade.
We missed the boat on Kelvin Beachum, the Steelers left tackle who picked up a career-high 4.5, second only to Bell's 4.9 for the game. Upon a second viewing, we agree with Beachum's score generally. He played very well in both phases of the offense, and he's emerging quietly as one of the game's better offensive tackles.
His game stands in contrast to Marcus Gilbert, who had a rough outing overall. He was given a -3.0 grade by PFF.
Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger each had 2.5 grades from PFF to round out the top scorers on offense. We have Brown on the Winners side and Roethlisberger on the Losers side - citing Ben's poor decision-making in the red zone, particularly on what was a critical interception in the first half.
Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons had a -2.7, the lowest of the trio of Timmons, Jason Worilds (-2.5) and Cameron Heyward (-2.6). It was a rough outing for the group against the run. Worilds wasn't noticeable for much of this game, leading to increasing questions about the status of Jarvis Jones after the Steelers' Week 12 bye.