The Pittsburgh Steelers had a lead of 14-13 going into the halftime break Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns. The offense managed to do well and showed promise in the first half, as did the defense. The second half however is where things began to take a turn for the worst. Consistently giving up large amounts of yardage on defense, particularly on the ground, is a major part of the problem. These plays would eventually lead to 16 unanswered points for the Browns to help them pull away and maintain the lead for a 29-17 victory. If this trend continues, should Pittsburgh look to an eventual offensive change to help the team out?
The Steelers have the highest paid defense in the league worth well over $100 million. With all those investments, one would believe that this is the most elite and best overall defense, especially when all players are healthy. Those may have been the expectations when building the roster, to continue to lean on the backs of high-end talent on defense to help stay in the running and ultimately win games, but so far that’s not been the case.
Through the first three games of the season, Pittsburgh’s defense has allowed 72 total first downs and nearly 1,200 yards. Opposing offenses are also averaging around five yards per play against this defense. Sadly, Thursday night was no different.
The Browns running back tandem of Nick Chubb and Karem Hunt feasted in the run game as Chubb rushed for 113 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown. Hunt complimented Chubb’s performance with 47 yards on 12 carries. The Browns had possession of the ball for roughly 36 minutes compared to the Steelers’ 23 minutes. This isn’t anything new as the defense has been on the field much longer than the offense in each game this season. This is partly due to not being able to get off the field on third downs.
Opponents have a combined total of 23 third down conversions on 49 attempts. It doesn’t get much better on fourth down either as teams converted four of a combined seven attempts. This was another key factor in the loss to the Browns as Cleveland would usually be able to hand the ball off to either Chubb or Hunt to move the sticks and extend their drives. Star safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick had this to say regarding stopping those two:
“They did what they wanted to do, and we couldn’t do anything to stop them. When you let a guy like that do what they want to do, they will win the game.”
Unfortunately, the defense wasn’t able to get a lot of stops in the second half. Many players weren’t wrapping up and making the tackles where they needed to. Star defensive tackle, Cam Heyward gave his thoughts on the matter:
“You just have to make the play. We all have to step up and make tackles. Arm reaching on a guy like Nick Chubb is going to make you pay by running through arm tackles. We freaking lost. It was one thing to learn and keep winning. It sucks to put up a performance where they ran the ball on us like that.”
With all of this being said, what can be done to somehow turn the ship around? As far as the defense is concerned, they’ll need to continue to step up in the absence of TJ Watt, but perhaps there is a change that could be made on the other side of the ball to help provide a spark to uplift the team.
Even after his Week 3 performance, Mitch Trubisky is still the official starter according to head coach, Mike Tomlin. Trubisky has been doing OK to support this offense, but it hasn’t translated to getting the results everyone has expected and desired. However, doing the same thing constantly and hoping for different and better results won’t solve the problem at hand.
As many people know, fans have been clamoring for 2022 first rounder, Kenny Pickett to be inserted into the starting lineup. While we know he won’t start for Week 4 against the New York Jets, how much longer will fans have to wait to see the potential face of the franchise as QB1? For that matter, if Pickett does start, will the team ultimately be more successful?
It may be too soon to hit the panic button, but it’s still obvious that something drastic needs to happen before we get too far along in the season. Playing Pickett could be good for various reasons. He can start to gel with all of the young offensive weapons and build that chemistry for long term success. Plus, there’s no better teacher than on the job training, so getting him in live game action would also help bolster his development. Pickett could in fact be the key the offense has been missing and could help prevent Coach Tomlin from getting his first losing season on his record.
Regardless of what happens, the defense needs help. And we mean more than waiting for Watt to return. If the defense isn’t able to do enough to secure victory, then perhaps the offense can with number eight leading the way.
Name: Matt Tristan Hometown: Binghamton NY Birthday: 08/10/1994 Played football in high school and college (St. John Fisher College - Division 3) Majored in Communication/Journalism Minor in Sports Management Steelers fan forever
More must-reads: