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Good Monday to You Steelers fans.
For the second consecutive week there is nothing good about this Monday. The Pittsburgh Steelers are just three games into 2021 and already the season is in free-fall. Here are my thoughts and observations from yesterday’s loss to Cincinnati.
Offense
- We should no longer wonder what Matt Canada’s offense looks like because it is an exact replica of last season.
- There are many things we can say about Ben Roethlisberger right now but Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin believed they would have a running game and offensive line he could thrive behind. They couldn’t have been more wrong. His receivers continue to run the wrong routes and drop passes at alarming times too. And the O-Line just isn’t good.
- Najee Harris dropped some passes yesterday but without him that offense may not have even scored. If he takes that kind of beating every week he won’t last the season either. He had 28 touches I believe not to mention a few more hits he took while blocking.
- People have all kinds of opinions on JuJu Smith-Schuster but I’ll never question the guy’s toughness. He tried playing through his rib injury several times yesterday before finally shutting it down.
- Congrats to Pat Freiermuth who scored his first career touchdown.
- It wouldn’t be a Steelers’ game without an Eric Ebron dropped pass.
- Kudos to Cody White who took advantage of his opportunity to make a couple of nice plays.
- I just can’t get over how bad this offensive line is. There isn’t one guy, not even Kevin Dotson, deserving of being an NFL starter right now.
- Roethlisberger now sits at 399 career touchdown passes.
- The middle of the field… The Steelers never use it.
Defense
- This unit was short-handed when the game began but poor tackling didn’t help.
- Minkah Fitzpatrick was better than last week but he still took some poor angles.
- The roughing the passer call on Melvin Ingram was awful and it immediately led to points just like the NFL wants.
- Jamir Jones was deserving of making this roster but he’s still a work in progress at OLB.
- Did you think you’d ever see Derrek Tuzska in the lineup?
- I think the James Pierre experiment is nearing its end. He just isn’t getting it done in games.
- I said this at the end of last season. Joe Haden has lost a step. It’s not a knock on him. Just being honest.
- The Steelers’ streak of 75 straight games with a sack of ended.
- For all the talk of the Steelers having issues on the offensive line they will have serious questions on defense to deal with too especially at cornerback.
- Say what you will for Mike Hilton but the Steelers have not found anyone who did what he did as far as a blitzed and a tackler. As for his petty behavior afterwards? Sorry Steelers’ fans. To the victor belong the spoils and many of you weren’t exactly “nice” to him when he left for Cincy.
- That fifth round trade for Ahkello Witherspoon looks worse all the time. He didn’t even get a hat on Sunday.
Special Teams
- Chris Boswell’s miss didn’t cost the Steelers a win by any chance but it sure summed up the day.
- Pressley Harvin III isn’t exactly making anyone forget Jordan Berry just yet.
Coaching
- I honestly believe we haven’t seen Matt Canada’s offense yet for two reasons. He doesn’t have the QB or offensive line to run it. Don’t blame him though. Tomlin deserves the blame for giving his OC the wrong personnel to use.
- Not sure what else Keith Butler could do yesterday. He’s missing Stephon Tuitt, Alex Highsmith, T.J. Watt and Tyson Alualu. The lack of pressure was to be expected. And he sure as hell can’t tackle for his players either.
- Tomlin’s use of a timeout on the Steelers’ touchdown drive left plenty of time on the clock for the Bengals. No idea why he didn’t let more time come off the clock there.
Next Up: The Steelers hit the road for a late afternoon tilt in Green Bay.
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Have a great day Steeler Nation!
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