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5. Cameron Heyward Has Earned Starting Spot

Steelers
Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

Third-year defensive end Cameron Heyward had a pretty solid game for Pittsburgh, and was one of the very few bright spots on the team this past week. Heyward finished the contest with five tackles and a sack, along with numerous pressures on New England’s quarterback. It appears that Heyward is settling into his role as starting defensive end.

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4. Jerricho Cotchery is Forgotten Man on Team

Steelers
Bob Martin-USA TODAY Sports

In the passing game, all the attention is put on wide receivers Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders, but many overlook fellow receiver Jerricho Cotchery. Against New England, Cotchery hauled in seven catches for 96 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. The 10-year veteran also leads the team in touchdowns (five) and is averaging 14.6 yards per reception (first among Steelers receivers).

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3. Run Defense Didn’t Learn from Previous Week

Steelers
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

You would have thought that Pittsburgh would have learned after getting ran over by the Oakland Raiders a week ago. Apparently that didn’t happen because the Patriots did the exact same thing that the Raiders did to them in Week 8; they rushed for 197 yards against the Steelers’ soft run defense.

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2. Troy Polamalu Has Lost a Step in Coverage

Steelers
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The aggressiveness that we’ve seen from safety Troy Polamalu this season has been great. The 11-year veteran forced a fumble against the Patriots, which led to a Steelers touchdown. However, Polamalu was beaten on a lot of passing plays, and found himself out of position numerous times.

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1. It’s Time to Rebuild the Team

Steelers
Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

All in all, arguably the franchise’s worst game ever has probably marked the end of the road for the Steelers this season. Whatever moves that will be made from this point on should more than likely be for the benefit of next year, because nothing can save this season.


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