Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Friday.
The Kickoff
Historic? I don’t think so. Humiliating? That sounds more appropriate. What we witnessed last night in Cincinnati was nothing short of it. The Pittsburgh Steelers surrendered 33 points, 470 total yards, over 300 yards passing and over 100 yards rushing in losing 33-31 to the Bengals. 40-year old Joe Flacco, who has been with his new team for slightly more than a week, abused the Steelers’ secondary time and time again. Teryl Austin and Mike Tomlin had no answers. Ja’Marr Chase is probably still running slants and outs right now at Paycor Stadium. He should feel very much like he’s still in the game since no one made any tangible effort to actually cover him. Chase Brown ran through the Pittsburgh defense with holes bigger than the one that swallowed that bus a few years ago. Has anyone seen T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith? I’m half expecting to see both on a milk carton this morning. The brutal performance overshadowed a terrific effort from Jaylen Warren and the return of Pat Freiermuth who played with a pissed off attitude that was surely brought on by trade talk. The Steelers better enjoy their mini-bye week because this shit is only going to get more difficult and I don’t care how ‘historic’ they think they are.
Fire Austin
Some will tell you that Mike Tomlin runs this defense and others will tell you it’s Teryl Austin. We know Tomlin isn’t getting fired so that leaves Austin. The dereliction of duty on display last night from Austin’s defense is 100% inexcusable. There is not one player who can look in the mirror today and claim they played “well.” That said, I still put this on Austin (and Tomlin since it really is his defense). How in the world can you constantly allow guys to run wide open so freely? How can linemen and linebackers be so out of position all the time? But perhaps the biggest conviction of Austin is that he cannot adjust. He has shown no ability to change and that right there is enough to send him packing right now.
Yup
Credit Where It’s Due
Hate on Joe Flacco all you want to but the guy was outstanding last night. To learn a playbook that fast and to acquire the type of connections he displayed with his unit in such a short amount of time is a credit to his professionalism. You can make the argument that the Steelers’ D made it easy for him, and they largely did, but don’t shortchange that performance by him.
Watt and Company
Look… If you’re going to pay a guy to be the highest-paid defender in the League (at the time), then that guy can’t fail to show up for the first 55 minutes. Watt finished with one tackle and .5 sacks. It wasn’t that many days ago where we laughed at Myles Garrett for such a poor stat line. Keep that same energy for our guys when they “no show.” Watt wasn’t the only one though. Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig were non-factors as well and don’t even get me started on Darius Slay and Joey Porter, Jr. It was just an awful performance from the entire unit.
Random Reads
The holding call on Zach Frazier during Jaylen Warren’s first half TD run was 100% legit. Don’t even try to argue that one… Where I would listen to arguments is the call on Jalen Ramsey in the end zone where Ja’Marr Chase scored. You either don’t throw a flag or you call it on Chase… The Steelers ran for over SEVEN yards per carry last night and still lost… The first INT was 100% on Aaron Rodgers. No clue as to why he was throwing it there into double coverage… The second one was just a great play by the CB to strip it from D.K. Metcalf… Not sure how you can let offensive linemen play the way they did for 58 minutes and then call such a ticky-tack hold on Broderick Jones. That was really questionable… Normally I handle losses better but this one has me really pissed off.
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