The Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the New York Jets on Sunday for a matchup in Week 4 of the 2022 season. The team lost a close one, 24-20. A quarterback change occurred, but it wasn’t enough to secure the win. As we do every week, let’s take a look at the winners and losers for the team on Sunday afternoon and analyze the play of several players after the loss.
Steelers Winners
Freiermuth is doing what he can to solidify himself as one of the best tight ends in the NFL in his second season. He had seven catches for 85 yards and seemed as if he was the most open target for the quarterbacks on Sunday. There are playmakers all over the field on the offense for Pittsburgh, but Freiermuth was the best part of the group against the Jets throughout the afternoon. George Pickens also showed out catching six passes for 102 yards.
Fitzpatrick is making his case to be named the NFL’s best defensive player by the end of the year. He now has three interceptions and brought his game to another level this season. It seems as if he is involved in almost every play defensively and has played phenomenally throughout the regular season. He is one of the main reasons the organization was able to stay in the game on Sunday.
Sutton came up with a huge interception at the end of the first half and played exceptionally well with Ahkello Witherspoon out due to a hamstring injury. He was near Corey Davis when the Jets scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but without his interception, New York was likely to put up more points on the board towards the end of the second quarter.
Highsmith is still adjusting without having T.J. Watt on the opposite end of him, but was consistently in the back field on Sunday afternoon. He had a sack, tackle for loss and QB hit. Consistency is the key for Highsmith and he has played great the last two games. The emergence of the third-year linebacker is bad news for Pittsburgh’s opponents wants T.J. Watt returns from his pectoral injury.
Steelers Losers
Trubisky’s time as the Steelers starting quarterback was short-lived. He was just 7/13 for 84 yards and threw an interception. He has not had the career many expected him to after being drafted 2nd overall in 2017. He will not be the backup to Pickett and is unlikely to see the field again this season unless the rookie quarterback suffers an unexpected injury.
The offensive line as a hole was not impressive on Sunday. Okoafor was consistently pushed off the line and also had an unnecessary illegal hands to the face penalty. The run blocking from the line was better for Najee Harris, but Okorafor in particular needs to be better on the right side if the offense wants a chance to be more dynamic as the season goes on.
The defense was worn down and ended up giving up a touchdown to the Jets on what would be the game winning score. They allowed a 10-play, 68-yard drive and the result was the team being 1-3 with a brutal schedule ahead. The time of possession was essentially even and the fatigued excuse is not valid after a tough showing during the final 15 minutes of the game.
Neutral
The Steelers new starting quarterback has arrived. Pickett seemed to have complete control of the offense for the majority of the second half and had an exceptionally beautiful back shoulder pass to Pickens midway through the fourth quarter. With that said, he had some poor passes and the two rushing touchdowns should not blind Steelers fans. There is plenty of room to improvement after his first NFL action and three interceptions.
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