The Pittsburgh Steelers used a strong second half to knock off the Los Angeles Rams today on the road in California. Here are my thoughts on the game as it unfolded.
Offense
-Raheem Morris is a solid defensive coordinator but the Steelers made him look like a genius in the first half. O-Line couldn’t pick up a blitz to save their lives.
-The illegal block call on George Pickens was the right call. All he had to do was get in his way. Has to know better.
-Even with a first and goal and momentum, the offense struggled to punch in the TD following Watt’s INT.
-Kenny Pickett was outstanding in the second half. He made some huge throws especially on third down.
-George Pickens needs to grow the hell up and I’m tired of typing that in this space. Doiontar Johnson should know better too. Two really dumb taunting penalties. Both guys are too valuable to this offense to act like that.
-Give kudos to the offensive line. I thought they were much better in the second half, especially running the ball.
-Najee Harris is a “between the tackles” back right now and he needs to recognize it. His penchant for wanting to bounce outside needs to stop.
-Jaylen Warren needs more carries. Just six today for 32 yards and a score. That averages over five yards per carry though whereas Harris averaged just 3.8 on 14 carries.
Defense
-Opposing offenses should just use crossing routes against the Steelers’ secondary. We have no one who can cover them. Both Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp could have made a literal living on those routes.
-Rams averaging over five yards per carry in the first half. Just can’t happen.
-Where would this team be without T.J. Watt? A perfectly read interception sets up the Steelers’ first TD.
-Two-point conversion attempt for the LAR couldn’t have been any easier.
-Larry Ogunjobi and Alex Highsmith had very solid games that won’t necessarily show on the stat sheets.
-Patrick Peterson was used as a blitzer much more often today. I think we’ll see more of that. He’s just too much of a liability in man coverage. Levi Wallace isn’t much better.
-Joey Porter, Jr was given the opportunity to get more snaps and he largely rewarded the team. Yes he’s grabby and no, he doesn’t tackle well but I thought he did a more than commendable job.
-Congrats to Nick Herbig for his first career sack.
-Three of the Steelers top four tacklers today are Safeties. Minkah Fitzpatrick led with 11 stops. The front seven has to do better.
Special Teams
-Chris Boswell remains perfect on the season. Three for three on his PATs today and one for one on his field goals.
-Pressley Harvin III averaged almost 44 yards per punt on five attempts and dropped one since the ten. He’s been much more consistent in recent games.
Coaching
-Another bad challenge from Mike Tomlin. He saw the Rams hurrying to the line and threw the red flag. One point game in the third. Save your damn timeouts.
-OK I’m going to say it… Matt Canada called a very nice second half. He used both Harris and Jaylen Warren wisely and he let Kenny Pickett make some ‘down the field’ throws. This doesn’t mean there aren’t still problems because there are many with Canada, but credit where it’s due.
Officiating
-The Steelers benefited from some calls especially the spot on Pickett’s sneak but there were also some poor calls that went against the Steelers too. Officiating plays way too big of a part these days period.
