Varsity & JV: Winners & losers from the Steelers’ win over the Packers

Someway, somehow, the Steelers are now 6-3 after another win that came down to the game’s final minute. Who stood out on both ends of the spectrum? Here are the Varsity and JV performers of Week 10.

Varsity:

RB Jaylen Warren

Warren notched his first career 100-yard game, and he did so on nearly seven yards per carry continues to flash his explosive play week in and week out. His touchdown on the second drive of the game continued to set the tone for the Steelers in the run game.

RB Najee Harris

The Steelers legitimately have one of the best running back duos in football right now, and each of them ate against Green Bay. Harris averaged over five yards per carry, and had an opening drive touchdown for the second straight week. This run game is starting to really hit its stride, and that is incredibly refreshing to see.

The offensive line

Seeing consecutive performances like this from the offensive line is very encouraging. Broderick Jones looks like a future Pro Bowler. He was getting to the second level and clearing lanes for Warren and Harris, as well as keeping Kenny Pickett clean. Isaac Seumalo had a great game at left guard. Harris had a run in the fourth quarter through a lane that you could have built a new Primanti’s in, which was created by Seumalo and Dan Moore. All around, the offensive line has looked really good these last two weeks.

LB Elandon Roberts

Roberts might be the best signing the Steelers had this offseason. He is a ferocious run-stopper, and he stepped up once again when the Steelers lost another inside linebacker for the season when Kwon Alexander went down. He had a play where he bulldozed the Packers’ pulling right guard and made the tackle all in one fluent motion. He tied for the team lead with eight tackles on Sunday, and continues to be one of the most valuable parts of this team.

LB Mark Robinson

When you lose two linebackers in two weeks, someone has to come in and step up- Robinson did. Both he and Roberts did a good job of patrolling the middle of the field, as well as closing to the ball in the run game. He finished the day with three tackles.

DT Keeanu Benton

The Steelers can feel really good knowing that whenever Cam Heyward does call it a career, Benton will be more than capable of filling his shoes. He was everywhere in terms of winning reps to stop runs before they went anywhere, to getting interior pressure on Jordan Love. He added a pass deflection and two hits on Love to go with his six tackles.

CB Joey Porter Jr.

The rookie played in all 68 defensive snaps for the Steelers, and allowed Christian Watson to make just two catches for 23 yards. Already, Porter is looking like one of the best man-to-man cornerbacks in football. This Steelers’ draft class is already giving back major returns on investment. It may have taken longer than we would have liked to see them on the field, but the results are more than making up for it.

EDGE T.J. Watt

Watt surpassed his brother, J.J., for the second most sacks in a player’s first 100 games, placing him second all-time behind only Reggie White. He led the team with eight tackles, had the team’s lone sack of the day, and recorded two hits on Jordan Love.

K Chris Boswell

I see everyone give love to Boswell every week in the comments, and I won’t forget to join in on the love fest this week. He went three-for-three on field goals against Green Bay, and is 17-of-18 on the year. He is amongst the top three kickers in the league, and that reliability has helped the Steelers win six games.

Junior-Varsity

CB Levi Wallace

Wallace is not an NFL-caliber cornerback right now. Both touchdown passes by Jordan Love were on his watch, and he gets burned multiple times a game. The Steelers should hit the free agent market and bring someone in, because it genuinely would be difficult to find someone who is worse.

QB Kenny Pickett

Pickett got away with a lot of bad decisions. He threw a pass directly to Keisean Nixon, but the cornerback failed to drag his back foot to secure the interception. A clear lateral to Jaylen Warren was thrown behind him, and the Steelers caught a massive break that it somehow was ruled a forward pass, and De’Vondre Campbell dropped a pick six on an out route. 14-of-23 for 126 yards will win games against bad teams in the regular season, as long as the ground game and defense are playing well- it will get the Steelers beat by multiple scores in the playoffs.

S Keeanu Neal

Neal was in on a lot of stops in the box, and yes, he had an interception, but he was nonexistent in coverage. The second touchdown pass to Jayden Reed was just as much on him as it was on Levi Wallace, and there were constant miscommunications that led to chunk plays for the Packers. Damontae Kazee can be grouped in here, as well, because multiple chunk plays, including the deep reception over the middle on the Packers’ final drive was due to Kazee playing to far over in Cover-2. The safety play was subpar.