Grading the Steelers in their 39-38 win over the Ravens

Quarterback: A

Sixty-six attempts? Forty-four completions!? Five-hundred six yards?!? Remember when everyone was saying Roethlisberger was past his prime and couldn't carry a team anymore? Sure, he is given quite an assist from Antonio Brown. But with whatever else is going around the Steelers, it's got to be comforting to know once again Roethlisberger can be depended on to deliver. The Steelers still have a franchise quarterback, and that's the No. 1 thing for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

Backs/receivers: B

Jesse James had a career day, Vance McDonald made some big catches before getting hurt, Le'Veon Bell still managed well over 100 yards from scrimmage and even Roosevelt Nix got into the act with a receiving touchdown. This all, of course, pales in comparison to another monster day from Brown. Of all the superlatives he has achieved, perhaps this might explain his greatness best: a game in which he had 11 catches for 213 yards could subjectively be just his fourth-best this season.

Offensive line: B-

Roethlisberger was sacked three times and hit on eight occasions, and the running game managed just 3.7 yards per carry. The former, though, can be explained by the ridiculous 69 dropbacks — a 5 percent sack rate isn't terrible. The latter doesn't need an explanation because the Steelers didn't need the running game. On whole, it wasn't the cleanest effort by the offensive line, but it was good enough for the offense to accumulate 39 points and 545 yards, so it must have done something right.

Defensive line: C+

Even on a day when it seemed as if they weren't very disruptive, the threesome of Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and Javon Hargrave combined for two passes defended, two quarterback hits and a forced fumble. Baltimore's Alex Collins, though, ran free far too often, signifying either the line wasn't making plays or wasn't holding their blocks enough for the linebackers to do so.

Linebackers: C+

The best player of this unit, of course, did not play. So the rest of the linebackers played, in part, for him. Sean Spence (on the couch a week ago) and Arthur Moats (playing outside linebacker most of the past 3½ years) stepped in for inside linebacker Ryan Shazier. In that context, it's difficult to point too many fingers at the linebackers after the Ravens racked up 413 yards and 38 points. Missed tackles continue to be a problem. T.J. Watt had one of the best games of his rookie season, capped by his game-ending sack. Bud Dupree, however, continues to struggle to find ways to finish sacks.

Secondary: C-

First, let's acknowledge the unit made plays: the early interception, the late stops. Kudos for that. But too much went wrong as well. The Ravens had five passing plays of 20 yards or more, and the Steelers defensive backs accounted for 81 yards in penalties. Too often Sunday night, Joe Flacco had large patches of grass to throw to where receivers had too few defenders near them. Artie Burns is getting frustrated, Sean Davis had one of his worst games of his good young career and Coty Sensabaugh seems to be holding on to his (temporary) starting job by a thread. Joe Haden can't come back fast enough.

Special teams: C

Chris Boswell continues to shine, making three field goals of at least 43 yards — including one from 52 — and going 4 for 4 overall (so we won't even quibble with having just three touchbacks on nine kickoffs). Jordan Berry netted 47 yards on three punts, too. The kickoff coverage team has its moments, both good and bad. The Steelers return game, though, was awful. No production at all. The Martavis Bryant kick return experiment seems to have run its course.

Coaching: A-

The minus was for the two passing plays on the final drive that ended up leaving time on the clock for the Ravens to potentially win with. Barring an inexplicable lack of confidence in Boswell, that made no sense. But mostly an “A” is earned for the Steelers somehow keeping focus this week while Shazier remained hospitalized. Through all the distractions the Steelers have encountered this season, they're 11-2.

Overall: B-

All's well that ends well, right? The defensive woes are alarming, as were some of the mental mistakes. One play goes differently somewhere along the line Sunday, and the narrative is completely different. But the Steelers clinched a division title with three weeks to play in the season, they haven't lost in more than two months, and at the moment, they hold the AFC's No. 1 seed. Sunday night was a microcosm of all that. We might not know how, but somehow the Steelers keep getting the job done.

Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.