Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Victory Monday.
The Kickoff
T.J. Watt had a quiet offseason. No interviews and not visible at all either. He was enjoying his family time and time away from football. Deep down however the feelings about his 2025 season had to be gnawing at him. Nothing seemed to go right and when his own staff accidentally punctured his lung during treatment, the entire season felt like one, big failure. Yesterday in Pittsburgh it felt like Watt took out an offseason of frustration out on the Atlanta Falcons. He had two sacks. Three tackles for loss and added a pick-six for good measure. Without him, the Steelers probably don’t get out with a win yesterday. Whether or not he can keep this up all year I cannot say but for one week at least, Watt was the most destructive player on the field in the Steelers’ 20-13 win.
Major Concerns
You have to start on offense. D.K. Metcalf was targeted 10 times and had just four receptions for 40 yards. He also dropped at least three very catchable balls if not more. Paid as much as he is, he has to come down with these balls. Perhaps doing so little in the preseason was not a good thing for him… The offensive line and in particular Dylan Cook, was not great Sunday. The offense ran the ball 21 times for just 58 yards. An average of less than three yards per carry. That’s not going to cut it. Furthermore, you can’t have Aaron Rodgers throwing it 40 times each week either. This group has to get better and quickly.
New Guys
Thumbs up to Sebastian Joseph-Day, Jaquan Brisker and Jamel Dean. These three newbies all made an impact yesterday in one way or another. Credit Dean who rolled an ankle very early in the game and came right back in to make several nice plays.
Have to believe this is the Aaron Rodgers Effect
JPJ
Well, this isn’t headed in a good direction. The Steelers have now ended negotiations for the season. Joey Porter, Jr eventually made his way to the sideline but was inactive and the team cited his lingering back issue. JPJ is now in a difficult spot and there were several reports yesterday – some legit and some not – that he was open to being traded. If someone offered the Steelers a first round pick?? I would do it in a heartbeat.
Not So Special Teams
Danny Smith, the notorious bubble gum chewing Special Teams Coach under Mike Tomlin, wasn’t always perfect but I can’t recall too many times were something happened like yesterday. The Steelers were lined up for a Chris Boswell field goal attempt when the ball was snapped by Christian Kuntz prematurely. Cam Johnston did what he could before throwing the ball out of bounds. Not only does that take a potential three points off the board but that could have ended much worse than it did. That has to get cleaned up quickly. Looking at you Danny Crossman.
Offense
The big question of the day is… “Did the offense look any different than in years past?” Yes, it absolutely did. The willingness to throw the ball down the field and use the middle was apparent. There were new route concepts and much less two tight end sets which we expected. The results however looked much the same as recent seasons. A very limited rushing attack was complimented by a passing game that just never seemed to get going.
Defense
“Did the defense look any different than in past years?” Again, the answer is yes. Patrick Graham’s unit played 100% zone coverage. That’s something we haven’t seen in a long time and it’s also something I believe we won’t see each week. Graham was very thoughtful about his pressure packages. While I haven’t watched the tape yet, I don’t recall too many times where he brought more than five rushers. Next week will be another interesting test in New England.
Random Reads
I didn’t have a lot of hope for Cleveland this year but yikes. That was a disaster… I wonder how many people had the LA Chargers in their survival pools… Have to think that heat and humidity wore down Ohio State Saturday night. Blowing a 20-point lead can’t sit well with Buckeyes’ fans today… We have to get back to a day when politics was not constantly intruding on our pastimes. Senator Cruz’s appearance on College Gameday was the latest example of why sports fans don’t want their games mixed with politicians. He was booed the entire segment and ESPN should be as well… Payton Wilson’s performance yesterday was heavily missed due to the big day by Watt but he was everywhere. 13 tackles and a constant thorn in the Falcons’ side…Next up is a trip to New England. 1pmET on Sunday.
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