The Pittsburgh Steelers moved to 3-0 on the season with a 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. In their home opener, the Steelers trailed 7-0, then 10-7 before scoring the game’s final 13 points. Here are my in-game observations.
Offense
-The team’s first first down came at 1:15 of the first quarter.
-Broderick Jones and Dan Moore both started off about as poorly as you can.
-Jaylen Warren can’t be 100%. Just four touches on the day for one yard.
-Credit the #Steelers with a bounce back drive after the Chargers scored. Good plays from several guys including Scotty Miller (2 Rec. 31 yards) before the Justin Fields (25/32 245 yards 1TD/1INT) TD run.
-Can we please stop with all of the toss sweeps, especially with Najee Harris? They just aren’t working. Stop the insanity!
-Calvin Austin III (4 Rec. 95 yards TD) made his case for the top WR across from George Pickens (5 Rec. 57 yards) and Scotty Miller made some nice plays today too.
-Najee Harris finished with 70 yards on 18 carries but don’t be fooled. Most of those yards came late against a worn-out Chargers’ defense. This is not meant as a knock on Najee – he played his ass off as he always does – it’s a knock on the offensive line which just isn’t generating enough push.
Pat Freiermuth had another ‘Pat Freiermuth’ kind of day with four receptions for 33 yards. This is almost exactly what he had in the first two games of the season.
Defense
-Completely blown coverage on the Chargers’ opening score. They didn’t have everyone accounted for pre-snap for crying out loud.
-What a day for Nick Herbig (2 sacks/FF). Alex Highsmith went out in the first half.
-T.J. Watt (1 sack) obviously was huge against the pass but he made several terrific plays against the run today too.
-Joey Porter, Jr is becoming a well-rounded cornerback. His run tackling is improving weekly.
-Cam Heyward (4 tackles, 1 sack) literally sacked the QB with his hand. He’s that powerful. He’s playing well too.
-Patrick Queen misses some tackles at times but his activity makes such a difference for the guys around him. He led the team in tackles with eight.
-Taylor Heinicke was sacked three times by the Steelers. He completed two passes.
Special Teams
-If you’re mad about Chris Boswell missing a 62-yard field goal, don’t be. IT WAS 62 YARDS! He was perfect on his PATs and made his other two field goal attempts.
-Corliss Waitman (3 punts 52 yards per punt) hit some big punts again today. If he can master those “wedge shots” from shorter distances then he’s really going to be an asset.
Officiating
-The Chargers made it easy on Alex Kemp and his crew with some really dumb penalties today.
Coaching
-It feels very much like the coaches are continuing to have Justin Fields throw outs and slants for the most part. But… I think they’re slowly taking the bubble wrap off.
