The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped to 10-4 on the season losing 27-13 at Philadelphia. The game turned on a Najee Harris fumble as the Steelers were driving for a score. Obviously the big story is the health of T.J. Watt. He left in the fourth quarter with a left foot or ankle injury. Outside of that, there were plenty of other things to be concerned about. Here are my immediate observations from today’s game.
Offense
-Eagles’ D is bringing it early. Offense is struggling.
-Arthur Smith seems to struggle with “scheming guys open.” I’m pretty sure that the first time he actually did do this he got a first down to Ben Skowronek.
-Russell Wilson (14/22 128 TD) finally got things going with his legs and finished with a TD to Pat Freiermuth (3 Rec 22 yards TD).
-Great catch by Muth securing it with his hands and reeling it in.
-Just a horrible mistake from Najee Harris. Offense is moving the ball and he simply dropped the toss. That simple.
-The Steelers ran 17 times for 56 yards. Harris “led the way” with 14 yards on six carries. That’s not going to get it done in the postseason.
-Wilson struggles to see and throw over the line of scrimmage way too often.
Defense
-T.J. Watt (7 tackles, 2 Sacks) has absolutely mastered the punch out. Not sure how he didn’t force Jalen Hurts to fumble too.
-No answer for A.J. Brown. Doesn’t matter who is covering him. Same could be said for DeVonta Smith. Both guys gave the Steelers fits all afternoon.
-Way too many missed tackles. Combine that with how long the defense has been on the field and you have a recipe for disaster. Patrick Queen led in tackles today with 11 but probably missed half that many.
-DeShon Elliott’s absence has been glaring. He’s the best tackler on the team. With Elliott out, Minkah Fitzpatrick played a lot more in the box made a couple of nice plays against the run.
-I feel confident when I say that I believe Joey Porter, Jr has hit the so-called ‘sophomore jinx.’ He’s just not playing well. Even when he does cover well it looks like a struggle for him.
Special Teams
-Miles Killabrew lives for special teams man. The dude just goes all out.
-Great tackle from Mark Robinson forcing the fumble.
-Another perfect day from Chris Boswell. He was 2/2 on his field goals and 1/1 on his PATs although that one did deflect in off the right upright.
-Inconsistent day from Corliss Waitman. He punted five times for just over 43 yards per punt.
Coaching
-Not sure why Mike Tomlin declined a holding call on first and 20. Would have been first and thirty. He declined and Eagles picked up 20 on next play.
-The constant use of Cordarrelle Patterson at running back makes zero sense. Down in the fourth quarter, why isn’t Jaylen Warren in?
-Mike Tomlin probably couldn’t have dreamed that when he punted with over ten minutes left that he wouldn’t get the ball back. That’s what happened however. His defense was gassed and they really hadn’t stopped the Eagles in the second half.
Officiating
-Horrendous officiating to call two personal fouls BOTH on PIT in that situation.
-The personal foul call on Reed Blankenship that gave the Steelers a first down was a shitty call. We’ve seen the Steelers get flagged for the same thing and we were pissed.
-Personal foul on Jalen Carter for the head slap on Connor Heyward came BEFORE the punt. Officials screwed that up too. That was a significant play as the Eagles would then take tons of time off the clock to put it away.
Up Next: The Steelers travel to Baltimore on Saturday at 4pmET.
