The Pittsburgh Steelers followed the exact same plan as they did in 2021 by winning a tough game on the road only to return home and lay an egg. Here are my rapid-fire thoughts from today’s 17-14 loss to New England.
Offense
-Mitchell Trubisky is the ‘safer’ option at quarterback right now but questioning whether he gives this team the best chance to win is fair. He refuses to throw over the middle. He’s making poor choices and is literally making it easy on opposing defensive coordinators. 21/33 for 168 yards is just not going to do it. He was sacked three times and all three you could make the argument, were his fault. His interception, I guess, proved why he is hesitant to throw over the middle as it was tipped and picked off.
-The offensive line was not the problem today. 91 rushing yards is nothing to be excited about but they were much better overall than last week. Still much work to be done but they were better.
-Najee Harris still doesn’t look 100% despite rushing for 49 yards and catching five balls for 40 yards. He seemed to get better as the day went on but in the early going Jaylen Warren had more spark than he did.
-Have to feel for Diontae Johnson(6 Rec for 57 yards). He makes highlight reel catches every week but he knows with Trubisky at QB everything will largely be on the sideline.
-Have to feel for George Pickens too. It’s clear the Steelers don’t trust him just yet but not giving him shots deep a few times per game makes zero sense to me.
-Chase Claypool had four catches for 25 yards on six targets. I just don’t know if we’ll ever see him return to his rookie season form.
Defense
-No sacks with T.J. Watt on the bench but credit the Patriots’ offensive line too. Cam Heyward was a non-factor as was Alex Highsmith.
-Minkah Fitzpatrick had an interception early in the game but was largely ineffective the rest of the game.
-The defense continues to be hit hard over the middle of the field. Teams are targeting that and they’re finding way too much success.
-I thought Demarvin Leal played a very nice game for a rookie. He lined up several times on the edge and nearly picked off a WR screen.
-Cam Sutton has to make that interception. No idea how he dropped it.
-Ahkello Witherspoon learned a valuable lesson today. Don’t assume because you have position that you have dibs on the ball. All he needed to do was go up and get the ball and the TD never happens.
-Tackling was not as good as it was last week.
Special Teams
-The NFL has to look at what happened early in the game. The Patriots’ punt returner tried to field the punt about the five yard line. He muffed it and it went into the end zone where it was eventually recovered by New England. It resulted in a touchback. In a league that already favors the offense, there’s no way that a player’s poor choice and inability to field the punt should be rewarded.
-Chris Boswell was two-for-two on his field goal attempts. Ho-hum.
-Pressley Harvin III was really good today. Four kicks for an average of over 51.
-Gunner Olszewski did the one thing it was thought he wouldn’t do. He muffed a punt and it cost the Steelers a touchdown.
Coaching
-Mike Tomlin will sing the company line that he is sticking with Mitchell Trubisky but at some point he is going to have to consider Kenny Pickett. His offense right now is fragile and it is limited in so many ways. Pickett would no doubt make mistakes but at least he would be aggressive and there would also be positive plays out of that.
-Matt Canada’s offense is doing nothing to scare opposing defenses. They are not falling for the misdirection, when he uses it, and there remains little to no creativity. I think the report about Brian Flores being involved in offensive meetings this past week speaks volumes.
Up Next
The Steelers take the bus to Cleveland for a Thursday night game against the Browns. Cleveland blew a double-digit lead in losing 31-30 to the NY Jets today. Those Jets by the way happen to be the Steelers’ week four opponents.
Feature Image courtesy post-gazette.com
