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Winners
Cameron Heyward - In what had to be the best game of his young career, Heyward was a glimmer of energy on a team that looked nearly as depressed as its fan base by the end of the game. He tipped a pass, nearly forcing a fumble on the play, and had other hurries in the game as well.
Ike Taylor - He did a great job on superstar wide receiver A.J. Green, playing a very solid and disciplined game for four quarters. Green ended with six catches for 41 yards (a long of 10 yards) on 14 targets. That will likely be one of Green's lowest outputs of the season.
Zoltan Mesko - It's rarely a good situation when a punter is a legitimate winner in the game, but Mesko punted seven times with an average of 46.6 yards. Along with a great overall special teams performance, it was a bright spot in an otherwise poor game.
With nods to Fernando Velasco (great job coming in a week ago, held up reasonably well) and Derek Moye (first NFL touchdown on his first NFL catch).
Jarvis Jones - More for his special teams contributions than his defensive effort, Jones again showed the ability to make things happen when he's on the field.
Losers
Ben Roethlisberger - No excuse is going to cover a slew of poor passes in considerably better protection in this game than he had in Week 1. Roethlisberger floated his interception, the result of poor mechanics, and once again, led the team to only one touchdown drive. The Steelers had -3 yards in the third quarter. Very hard to say he's recovered one way or another from the injury he suffered in Week 10 of last season.
Marcus Gilbert - It didn't take long for him to get beaten on another sack. His effort looked poor most of the game - and this isn't referring to a questionable tripping call in the second half.
David Paulson - He's asked to do very little, and needs to be asked to do much less. He's proven again he cannot play at this level, and his fumble only added a kick to the groin to a team that's already trying to recover from hernia surgery.
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