It’s been a long time since the Steelers have played a relatively stress-free game, but that’s what the fans were treated to on Monday night. After an evenly sloppy first quarter-and-a-half, the Steelers pulled ahead by scoring a touchdown on four consecutive drives for the first time since 2018.

The Steelers have added some new faces to the roster in recent weeks as they’ve looked to cover for injuries and upgrade positions where production was lacking. This week, Read & React dives into the performances of some of those new additions who helped lead the Steelers to victory on Monday Night Football and maintain their one-game lead for the AFC North.

Several newly-added names have been big parts of the Steelers’ recent wins. How did they impact the Dolphins game?

RB: There are a handful of names that fit this prompt. I’ll be going with everyone’s new favorite wide receiver duo in Pittsburgh: Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

The two had just one catch each against the Dolphins (Valdes-Scantling’s went for a touchdown, to be fair), but one or both of them were on the field for nearly every offensive snap. Behind D.K. Metcalf, Thielen served as the team’s WR2 (38 snaps) and MVS wasn’t far behind as the WR3 (34).

It was each player’s second career game for Pittsburgh, but they’ve already leapfrogged youngsters Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson on the depth chart. Even in their Steelers debuts last week against Baltimore, Thielen was WR2 in snaps while MVS tied with Austin for third place.

It’s obvious that Aaron Rodgers prefers playing with veteran wide receivers. And maybe Arthur Smith does too. That’s because Thielen and Valdes-Scantling’s impact went beyond the box score.

In cliche terms, we talk a lot about “veteran savvy,” but there’s never as much discussion about what it really means.

For one, you can already tell there’s a level of trust between Smith, Rodgers, Thielen (12th NFL season) and Valdes-Scantling (eighth) given how quickly the latter two have acclimated to the offense. The two wide receivers were tasked with running Rodgers’ indicator motions most of the game, and Thielen was used in a role we really haven’t seen much from the Steelers offense this season.

Miami loves to mug the line of scrimmage, and Thielen spent much of the night lined up with Pittsburgh’s tight ends as an extra blocking option up front. Both he and MVS have immediately proven to be some of the better blocking receivers on the roster, and they were able to be a part of several nice runs Monday night.

Of course, there’s the Jonnu Smith rushing touchdown clip that’s gotten the most attention, with Thielen clearing out a defensive back to open a massive hole in the defense:

But there were plenty of other examples, as well.

Here are Thielen and MVS opening a lane from a bunch formation that might’ve gone for more yardage if Jaylen Warren was healthy:

Here’s some great sustain on a toss...