Who is the Steelers “Dud of the Week” after the loss to the Packers in Week 4?

The Pittsburgh Steelers had another dud of a performance in Week 4 against the Green Bay Packers as they fell 27–17 at Lambeau Field. It was not at the same level as the the previous week as if just a few key plays (or play calls) had gone their way, the outcome of this game could have been different. But with the Steelers experiencing a third-straight loss, and many readers feeling awarding a game ball in a losing performance should not be done, when the Steelers lose a game, we will look at the “Dud of the Week.”

So who gets the anti-game ball?

Highlighting the results of the previous week, let’s check out the winner…

Week 3 “Dud of the Game’ Winner: Ben Roethlisberger

This vote wasn’t even close as Roethlisberger had 76% percent o the votes. Despite his crazy statistics, Roethlisberger got the majority of his passing yards in the second half of the game when the Steelers were already down to scores. How did the Steelers get in this predicament? The difference in the game was Cincinnati scoring 14 points off of turnovers. Those turnovers were both interceptions by Ben Roethlisberger.

Once again I’m grateful that we decided to make this change because I don’t believe I could have found five players who I feel had a solid enough performance to be in the running for a game ball, but it was also difficult to find five players to label as duds as well. I will remind everyone of the rules that it is individual players who will be in the running. Although it could be applicable, it will not be either position groups or coaches who are eligible for this designation as they are more in line for Jeff Hartman’s Winners and Losers article. Also, this is not blaming the loss all on one person but acknowledging the poor performance, even just in certain instances, which didn’t help the Steelers’ cause. So here are the nominations for the “Dud of the Week” in no particular order:

Ben Roethlisberger

I don’t want to pile on after Roethlisberger ran away with this award last week, but I have to have him on the list yet again. Between missing several throws, with as many as two of them being of the touchdown variety, they were moments where it would have made all the difference in the world in the outcome had Ben Roethlisberger made the play. Teams are daring Roethlisberger to beat them and he doesn’t seem up to the challenge. Additionally, the Steelers had two turnovers on the day, a Roethlisberger fumble and a Roethlisberger interception.

Diontae Johnson

Despite being the Steelers leading receiver for the day, there was a sequence in the game in which Diontae Johnson did not help the Steelers cause at all. Catching a pass on third down and being just shy of the first down marker, Johnson didn’t try to go low and gain the last half yard but instead ran backwards and left the Steelers in fourth down and 4 yards to go. Then as the Steelers went to go for a fourth down play, Johnson was called for a false start which brought out the Steelers punt team instead.

Benny Snell Jr.

This might be more of a variety of wondering why Snell even gets a snap on offense. For some, it might even be asking why he takes up a spot on the 53-man roster. But Benny Snell had one carry for zero yards in the game. He was also targeted once with a pass and dropped it. In his very limited opportunity, he did about as poorly as he could other than the fact he didn’t fumble the football.

Joe Haden

I needed somebody from the defense, and it was very difficult to pinpoint one person. It would be very easy to put Haden on this list simply for the reason of getting the penalty for being off sides on the Packers field goal at the end of the first half which negated a Minkah Fitzpatrick block and 75-yard return for a touchdown. But should we really hold this against Haden? Even though the penalty officially goes against him, I don’t know that there’s any person realistically looking at the situation who thinks the Steelers were actually offside on the play. But just to throw something else out there, Haden did get juked out of his shoes on a pass to a receiver at the line of scrimmage who then got around him and got an easy first down.

Pressley Harvin III

In what I would consider a very “Jordan Berry-like” performance, Harvin did not come through for the Steelers when they really needed him. Yes, he did have a punt downed at the 5 yard line, but when the Steelers were deep in their own territory, I don’t know if he was pulling a Joe Nedney and pretending to get hit and not actually getting the call, but the shanked 20-yard punt gave the Packers the ball at the Steelers 40-yard line midway through the third quarter and allowed the Packers to score a touchdown four plays later.

So what do you think? Who deserves the “Dud of the Week” for the Steelers this week? Make sure you vote in the poll as this is how the winner will be determined. And of course, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.