This game was ugly.
Sure the Steelers will take the 13-6 victory over the Denver Broncos. But if last week was “no Mozart”, then this week was about as artistic as a spray painted bed sheet hanging out of a frat house window.
As far as I am concerned, the NFL owes an apology to fans everywhere for having to endure that slog fest.
Sometimes a 13-6 victory can be thrilling and beautiful. This was not one of those times.
Big plays were called back by penalties, QB’s were falling over because TJ Watt touched their shoe lace. Coaches down 2 scores, were kicking a field goal on 4th down to bring the game within…2 scores.
This game had it all.
The first half for the Steelers felt like the offense was on the verge of breaking out. They were controlling the ball. Justin Fields had some nice passes down the field. Then they finally used the human skyscraper, Darnell Washington, in the red zone.
The offense was seemingly on a roll again, but multiple plays, including a deep throw to George Pickens, were negated by the self imploding Broderick Jones.
They seemingly had another Touchdown late in the 2nd quarter, on a nicely designed play to George Pickens, only to have it called back by a questionable offensive pass interference call.
So they settled for a Field Goal to take a 10-0 lead at the half.
That was it for the first half. The offense looked okay, but shaky. They looked like they were prepared to take a leap, unfortunately that leap was right off of a cliff.
To avoid further boredom from this game, I will just sum up the second half offense with the stats. 62 yards of offense, and 3 points.
That's it. That is all they had in the second half.
The defense was good, and I guess great sort of? But could we really tell? Did the Broncos offense, under rookie Bo Nix, look at all threatening to you?
Outside of their reverse flea flicker, they never looked like an offense capable of winning this game.
At the risk of downplaying the Steelers defensive performance, I don’t perceive the Broncos to be some offensive juggernaut that was just held in check on Sunday.
So the Steelers offense did just enough to win, and the defense snuffed out a bottom tier NFL offense. Does that inspire much confidence going forward? No.
I will say this, if this offense is above average, the Steelers are surely a playoff team.
If the offense becomes top 10 in the league, they would probably be legit contenders.
But the offense is neither of those things right now. So even though they are 2-0, the Steelers feel destined to have a mediocre season with a first round playoff exit. Unless something changes.
Here are some other thoughts and observations from the game:
The QB play needs to improve.
Sure Justin Fields has had a few nice plays, and he has won both games he has started this year. Which is saying something considering before this season he had only won 11 of his 40 career starts.
But let's not confuse what he has done with anything close to what the national media will likely make it out to be. He has done nothing to supplant Russell Wilson as QB1 on the depth chart.
This doesn’t mean he had done anything to confirm he is just a career backup either.
He’s just been, you know, kind of there. Milk toast, bland, nothing to write home about. (Unless you are ESPN, who will wax poetically about him for 30 minutes of programming this week.)
Remember how much of a jump the Steelers offense took when they went from Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky to Mason Rudolph? I would expect a similar jump if Russell Wilson plays just as well as he did last year.
Russell Wilson doesn’t even need to return to pro-bowl form, and this offense will take a massive leap.
The pass catchers leave room for improvement.
George Pickens appears to be turning into the stud that we have always envisioned. If not for penalties, he would have had a much bigger game statistically. It was undeniable the impact he had on the game.
If the Steelers can continue to utilize their Tight Ends more, they could become a top tier TE group in the league.
I am not suggesting that Darnell Washington will be the next Rob Gronkowski, but I am suggesting that if you throw the ball to a guy who is taller than everyone else, it might yield more points.
Also, once Roman Wilson gets fully healthy, I think he will transform the offense. Not only is he a good slot receiver, but he plays with an edge and his blocking will go a long way in the run game. I have said it many times before, but he is the type of receiver that Steelers fans will love.
What have the Steelers done to Broderick Jones?
I might be sounding the alarm a little early here, but have the Steelers screwed up Broderick Jones beyond repair?
They drafted him in the 1st round last year to be their franchise left tackle. Only to play him at right tackle, because the other guy couldn’t play the right side.
Dan Moore has performed well, so this isn’t a knock on him. But he will be a free agent at the end of the year, and does not figure into the long term plans of the Steelers.
So I think it would be to the Steelers benefit to bring the future to the present and put Broderick Jones at left tackle now.
Unless what we saw from Jones on Sunday is going to be how he performs going forward.
If that's the case, then the Steelers screwed up. They either screwed him up in how they managed him by bouncing him from position to position in favor of a journeyman playing his preferred side, or they screwed up by moving up in the draft to pick him in the 1st round.
Either way, unless Broderick Jones cements himself as the starting left tackle soon, the Steelers screwed up.
Can the defense sustain this level of play?
Don’t get me wrong, this defense appears to be on pace to finish as one of the best in the league.
But how many games can they hold opponents to 10 points or less?
Even when a defense is as dominant as they have been, they will occasionally give up the big play. They are bound to have blown assignments from time to time. How will the Steelers fare then?
They will surely get a better test next week against Justin Herbert and the San Diego Los Angeles Super Chargers. So let's wait and see.
Can we stop with the immediate gifting of captains positions to rookies?
Bo Nix is his team's offensive captain. So is Caleb Williams.
So far, neither has proven that they won’t be benched beyond the halfway point of the season.
It speaks to a much larger problem in general with the NFL. But why do we have to immediately hand the keys over to the rookies? When has that worked out?
The Steelers in 2004 reluctantly, and only because of injury, handed the offense over to Ben Roethlisberger.
Sure he went 15-1 as a rookie, but that was and still is unprecedented. Not to mention, the supporting cast he had around him.
Tom Brady took zero snaps his rookie year. Patrick Mahomes was a backup his entire rookie season. Brady is the best ever to play the position, and Mahomes is the only person capable of threatening that title at the moment, and they both rode the bench.
So what are NFL teams basing this off of? It sure isn’t based off of track records of success with immediately plugging in rookie QBs. It's based on ticket sales, ownership pressure, and coaches who are too weak to avoid the allure of instant gratification.
Did Bo Nix or Caleb Williams look like NFL Quarterbacks yesterday? No. Will they eventually? Maybe. But I think starting them right away gives them less of a chance of success in the long term.
The instant captain thing though? That drives me nuts. Maybe I am just getting older and out of touch with the generation below me. But come on, really?
That can’t feel good for the veterans to see their future just handed over to a rookie just because he was torching future accountants and insurance salesmen in college last year.
Finally, in Boz we trust.
If it weren’t for Chris Boswell, where would the Steelers be these past few years?
He is now the most accurate kicker in NFL history beyond 50 yards. And that is saying something considering 50 yarders are becoming layups now.
What does the NFL do with this? Will they make the field goal posts skinnier? They surely don’t want 50 and 60 yard field goals to become automatic do they?
I think it kind of sucks that to win a game with a field goal, all you have to do is get to the opposing teams 40.
Think about that, with the current touchback rules bringing the ball out to the 30. You literally need to have a 30 yard offensive drive to get in field goal range.
It's too easy, and I suspect the NFL agrees.
