The Pittsburgh Steelers silenced the doubters. After looking lifeless against the New England Patriots in Week 2, after just about everybody in the NFL wrote off this Steelers offense, Pittsburgh put up 30 points to beat the 2-0 Cincinnati Bengals and hand them their first loss of the season. The offense was incredible. The defense, not so much. But one player and one play in particular sealed the deal for the Steelers.

So let’s get into this week’s winners and losers.

Winners

Jaylen Warren

Warren is the No. 1 winner here, and it’s not particularly close. It might have taken a Rico Dowdle injury to prove that he is still the top back in that backfield, but the Steelers, Mike McCarthy, and Aaron Rodgers need to know that the offense runs through No. 30. I understand he fell down late in the game on what should have been the game-winning touchdown. I know he had a huge run called back because of a DK Metcalf holding penalty. But the truth of the matter is Warren made that Steelers offense go. He was the straw that stirred the drink. Pittsburgh has to get the ball in his hands.

Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers is another winner. A week after everyone wrote him off, saying he should have retired, asking why he came back, Rodgers threw for nearly 300 passing yards and three touchdowns. He looked incredible. I know he had a couple of passes offbeat and one interception that wasn’t his fault, but he was out there throwing dimes, maneuvering the pocket, and looking like a very good quarterback.

Ben Skowronek

Ben Skowronek had the touchdown on that leak-out into the corner of the end zone, but more importantly, he had the fumble recovery that arguably wins the Pittsburgh Steelers the football game. Pittsburgh won by three points, and they got a field goal off that recovery. If the Steelers punt that ball and Cincinnati takes it, there’s a chance the Bengals march down the field and win the game. Shout out to Skowronek.

Darnell Washington

Darnell Washington is another player the Steelers need to spam targets to. Get the ball in his hands and good things happen. He never goes down on first contact. He simply doesn’t. He had that huge rumble down the sideline that set Pittsburgh up for the game-winning field goal.

Offensive line

The pass protection deserves credit as well. The Steelers swapped out right guard and right tackle, pulling Spencer Anderson and Dylan Cook respectively before the game. Right tackle Max Iheanachor did not look like a rookie making his first start. He played incredibly well. You heard little to nothing about right guard Brock Hoffman because he was doing his job, and the left side of the offensive line stood firm. Dexter Lawrence pushed the pocket toward the end of the game, but the pass protection was great overall.

Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy gets a huge shout-out, too. The game plan, the designed plays, the way he used pick plays and rubs against man coverage, the zone concepts he dialed up, it was a phenomenal game from McCarthy as a play caller and play designer. Hats off to him after what was an abysmal offensive performance in Week 1.

Derrick Harmon

Derrick Harmon is the final winner and arguably the biggest. On a defense that was lifeless throughout the game in terms of pressure Harmon came up with the strip-sack fumble to win the Pittsburgh Steelers the football game. He took down Joe Burrow, knocked the ball from his hands, and called game in what was a massive play.

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Losers

Roman Wilson

Roman Wilson looked like he was having the game of his life. He had a huge touchdown reception and another big play on the in-cut, and then he dropped the football inexplicably. That drop turned into a Bengals turnover as it was intercepted off his hands. Wilson will pick his head up and get back out there, and he did look good, but after that dropped pass turned into an interception, you heard nothing from him.

Asante Samuel Jr.

Asante Samuel Jr. struggled, but I don’t know how much I blame him versus Patrick Graham for thinking a 5-foot-9, 5-foot-10 corner best suited for the slot could guard Tee Higgins or Ja’Marr Chase on the outside. By the end of the game, it was Jamel Dean and rookie CB Daylen Everette out there for Pittsburgh because Samuel didn’t match up well.

Pass Rushers

The pass rush was awful outside of Harmon. Outside of the drive before Harmon’s strip sack, where Cam Hayward got home with a bull rush, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig were non-existent. Credit to the Bengals for scheming up the offensive line, but Pittsburgh won’t win a lot of games if its top three pass rushers play like that.

DC Patrick Graham

Patrick Graham takes an L for too much soft zone. I understand the pick-your-poison approach against Cincinnati, where the Steelers probably would rather die by a thousand cuts than have Chase and Higgins running down the sideline wide open like they did last year on Thursday Night Football. But it was pitch and catch for most of the game. Joe Burrow started 14-for-14. Graham pulled Samuel at the end of the game, but he had him in disadvantageous matchups he never should have been in to begin with.

Offensive communication

The offensive communication also goes in the loss column. Four burned timeouts. Four. The Steelers won this game, but if they lose, we’re talking about the lack of communication between McCarthy as the play caller, the sideline, and Rodgers. That cannot happen. That is how you lose football games, burning timeouts because you can’t get a play call in and can’t snap the football.

A great game for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and a huge win to get them up off the mat.