The Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Cleveland and lost there for the fifth time in six games by the score of 24-19. Credit the Steelers for coming back down 18-6 at one point before taking a 19-18 lead but ultimately losing. Here are my quick-hitting thoughts on the game.
Offense
-Sloppy start for the offense. Penalties and piss poor blocking.
-Russell Wilson (21/28 270 yards TD/FMB) cannot hold the ball like this. Sack took them out of FG range early in the game. Wilson was ultimately sacked four times on the night and they were largely his fault.
-Connor Heyward whiffed on a block and had two penalties in the first quarter. He did have a nice block to spring Justin Fields down the sideline, but I fail to see why Arthur Smith uses him this much.
-More Red Zone woes… it’s just painful.
-The offensive line regressed tonight. Consistently pushed around by the Browns’ defensive front. Fourth down efforts were a perfect example.
-Where is Mike Williams? Where is Ben Skowronek who played so well as a blocker last week?
-Many suggest that the ‘Moon Ball’ offense isn’t sustainable. This two QB offense isn’t either. Using Justin Fields (0/1, 3 Carries 26 yards) this often will create narratives whether deserved or not. And why in the world do you FINALLY have him throw on third and four, in a driving snow storm when you’re trying to burn the clock?
-Great throw from Wilson to Calvin Austin III. Allowed him to split the safeties.
-The two-point try to Cordarrelle Patterson was just dumb. George Pickens? Mike Williams? Even Darnell Washington would have been better selections for that play.
-Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris combined for 27 carries and 86 yards. I’m not sure either guy was given enough opportunities early on.
Defense
-T.J. Watt through the first 25 minutes of the half was invisible. Outplayed big time by Myles Garrett. The rest of the game held true too. Garrett was the better player tonight by far. Watt has been invisible the last couple of weeks.
-Browns definitely watched tape of the WAS game. They were throwing a lot of slants and finding guys over the middle.
-Defense was a step slow all night. Case in point was Jameis Winston’s TD run. Three guys had a shot but were a step behind.
-Superb play by Nick Herbig to strip Winston. Zero pressure all night and he came up big at the right time. He had the only sack of the night against an O-line playing backup offensive tackles.
-Nice job by Donte Jackson catching the interception. Balls like that are easy to drop in those conditions.
-Joey Porter, Jr had a rough night. Jerry Jeudy constantly got open against him.
-Six tackles and two passes swatted down by Cam Heyward. One of his better statistical games of the season.
-Another game where Minkah Fitzpatrick came up empty in terms of splash plays.
Special Teams
-Really questionable for Mike Tomlin to send out Chris Boswell for a 59-yard FG in those conditions.
-Chris Boswell finished 2/3 on the night but I don’t blame him for the miss. 59 yards in those conditions was just a stupid call from Tomlin.
Officiating
-I appreciate letting the players play but there were some missed pass interference calls and that should have been intentional grounding on Winston late in the game. They messed that up.
Coaching
-Didn’t care for Tomlin’s clock management to end the half. Could have had some thirty or more seconds but instead of burning the time out they ticked away.
-Why is Tomlin refusing to punt the ball tonight?
-Really bad night for the coaching staff. Tomlin in particular. Horrible clock management in both halves. Arthur Smith tried to get too fancy at times. It’s football. Don’t overthink it and he did on several occasions.
