From a win-loss perspective, this past weekend was great for my favorite teams. Manchester City improved to 4-0-0 with a 2-1 victory over Brentford, as Erling Haaland netted his 8th and 9th goals on the season in a mere 360 minutes of Premier League play. Pitt’s football team remained undefeated with their second-consecutive win in spectacular come-from-behind fashion, beating bitter rivals West Virginia in the 107th edition of The Backyard Brawl. The Steelers began the season with back-to-back road wins for the first time since 1999 as they ground out an ugly, low-scoring victory over rookie quarterback Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos. Three contests, three wins, all achieved in very different fashions. The focus of this entry will, as you may have predicted, be on the Steelers.
At the time of writing, there are nine 2-0 teams in the NFL, of which the Steelers are one (the Eagles have a chance to become the tenth tonight when they host the Falcons on Monday Night Football). Ultimately, a team’s record is what matters at the end of the day, and the Steelers have amassed two victories from two games, both of which were played far away from Heinz Field (yes, I still refuse to call it Acrisure Stadium).
Through two games, there have been plenty of positives. The defense has been phenomenal, allowing only 16 points through 8 quarters of football. Regardless of the quality of the opposition that Teryl Austin’s group has faced, that is a very impressive statistic. They forced Bo Nix into two interceptions and sacked him twice yesterday, adding to the two interceptions and two sacks (and one fumble recovery) against Atlanta in week one.
First-round pick Troy Fautanu made his debut yesterday after sitting out week one with an injury, and he was immaculate. In 29 pass-blocking snaps, the Washington product allowed zero pressures in his first start at right tackle in the NFL. That is exactly the thing that the front office and coaching staff would want to see from a day-one draft pick. For some reason, the coaching staff thought it was a good idea to rotate right tackles during the game, bringing in last year’s first-rounder Broderick Jones for a series where he ended up being penalized three times…he would not see the field again as one of the five main linemen.
For what it is worth, I do not fault Jones. He is a left tackle by trade and has proven time and again to be uncomfortable on the right side. Continuing to put him in situations that are not suited to his strengths is only going to hurt his confidence, and his hold that negated a beautiful deep ball from Justin Fields to George Pickens is one that I could argue a) was ticky-tack at best, and b) a result of Fields holding the ball for longer than offensive lineman should be expected to hold their blocks.
Chris Boswell was, again, impeccable, as he was responsible for 7 of the Steelers’ 13 points. He drilled two field goals (including one from 53 yards out) and an extra point that followed the Steelers first (and, thus far, only) touchdown of the season, a five-yard dime from Fields to backup tight end Darnell Washington.
Let us be real, though. The offense was miserable. Fields himself said, “I don’t think we played good enough as an offense”. Through two games, this is true. After last week’s showing where he was somewhere in the range between mediocre and good, he showed no improvement. His stat line of 13-20 for 117 yards and a touchdown is slightly deceiving—one could argue that the Pickens touchdown that was wiped out for an offensive pass interference call should not have been chalked off—but the eye test will tell you that he still was not good. The offense as a whole was not good. Through two games, wide receivers not named George Pickens have five catches for 28 yards. That is, quite simply, unacceptable.
Part of the lack of receiving options falls on Fields. It does not seem as though the team trusts him to drop back and sling the ball—and frankly, I do not blame them. He has yet to show the ability to beat teams with his arm if there is not a freak athlete (e.g., Pickens) on the other end. Another part of the lack of catches and yards by receivers is…the lack of receivers. In the first two games, Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin III were the second and third wide receiver options…yikes!
Another thing that has hamstrung this team—on both sides of the ball—is a fundamental lack of discipline. Through two games, the Steelers have had 19 penalties against them accepted. Were all of them penalties? No, of course not. NFL refereeing is a crapshoot. But, the penalties have come at extremely inopportune times. For example, one of TJ Watt’s week one sacks being erased by a penalty in the secondary, George Pickens having a touchdown and a long catch erased by offensive penalties yesterday. You simply cannot beat good teams when you make boneheaded mistakes.
Among 2-0 teams, these are the total TDs scored by each:
- Saints: 11
- Bills: 8
- Buccaneers: 6
- Chiefs: 6
- Vikings: 6
- Seahawks: 5
- Chargers: 5
- Texans: 4
- Steelers: 1
The bottom line is that the Steelers are 2-0, but the way that they have gotten to such a record is simply not sustainable. Changes are necessary if the team wants to have any hope of being in the thick of things in January.