Steelers Week 4 Reaction

 When I was in Pittsburgh last weekend the trend amongst the citizens was pretty funny to witness. Every Uber driver we had was absolutely not buying the 3-0 start. George Pickens was mentioned by each of them as a guy with an attitude problem who will start to sulk when the going gets tough. They claimed going 3-0 would only get the fans hopes up for when they start losing again. Sports fans are funny aren't they? They love to hate their team. Anyway, hopefully now they can rest easy knowing we don't have the pressure of being undefeated anymore. Lets get into it: 

Critical Errors

I actually think the Steelers played pretty well in this one. It was probably the best offensive showing from the team since Ben Roethlisberger was still playing. They had 404 total yards including a QB actually passing for 312 yards, something a QB didn't do a single time last season. The game really came down to some critical mistakes in key moments that were just too hard to overcome. It sucks to start off a reaction talking about these, but this game essentially requires it so here we go: 

In the second quarter with the Steelers finding themselves in a 14-0 hole early, the offense finally found some mojo. Cordarrelle Patterson deserves a big shout out here, he came into the game and instantly found gaps busting off multiple big first down runs to set the tone. The Steelers marched down the field, Justin Fields was making big plays, the running game finally got going and all looked well. Steelers have the ball inside the 15 yard line, Fields completes a pass short of the first down to Pickens who spins out from an initial tackle, runs inside the 5 and loses the football, clear fumble, recovered by the Colts and the drive is over. First momentum killer of the game. 

Then the Steelers get another chance, ball around the 35 yard line after an electric punt return from Calvin Austin III, close enough to FG range on a 3rd down. Fields dropped back to pass and immediately gets hit with pressure, he runs back around 15 yards to mid field, gets sacked and fumbles the ball also to be recovered by the Colts, momentum shattered again. Still the defense holds up here and the Steelers manage to escape this disaster of a half only down 17-3. 

The Steelers made a great push in the second half. Although the running game was anemic once Patterson left with injury, Fields was making things happen both through the air and on the ground. The Steelers managed to cut the deficit to 3 points and got the ball back with just over 2 minutes to go, a dream scenario. After getting a first down quickly, Fields lined up in the shotgun. The center snapped the ball, it goes through Fields' hands and he luckily pounces on it to prevent the turnover, but it is now second and 20+ due to this critical snap error. For the fourth week in a row Fields and Frazier have been having issues with the snaps, it hasn't led to disaster until this week but they were asking for trouble. If any of these critical mistakes don't happen in this game I think the Steelers take this one handily, but this is the NFL. You can't stack up multiple turnovers in key situations and expect to come away with the win. It will be a tough one to swallow, but I am confident that they'll enter next week more disciplined for it.  

Najee Harris Concerns

Steelers Reddit is really weird. I've never seen a group so together on the idea of defending a player. I get that the Steelers drafted Najee Harris in the first round, generally regarded as a no-no for RBs. I get that he has suffered through some poor play calling and offensive line play in his tenure here but none of these are excuses anymore. At the end of the day, Najee Harris is just not a good running back. It says something when 33 year old Cordarrelle Patterson can come into the game and instantly find holes for big runs meanwhile first round pick Najee has 19 yards on 13 carries. Najee is strong as an ox and can shake off tackles with the best of them, but its time to acknowledge that his vision as a runner is horrific. When Patterson went out with an injury yesterday, the running game completely dried up. Jaylen Warren missed this one with a knee injury to stack on to his already existing hamstring injury. If Patterson and Warren miss some time here, we will be seeing a ton of Najee Harris. I am hoping that he turns this around and makes me look like a big hater because if he continues to play like this, the Steelers offense may be in trouble. Luckily Justin Fields seems actually capable of leading a good NFL offense on his own, something he may have to demonstrate again next week. 

Fields is the Man

You don't want to get too overexcited about a loss I know, but I really liked what I saw from Justin Fields on Sunday. Through the first 3 weeks I have been saying that he's played great, but hasn't really had to demonstrate his ability to make big plays down the stretch to lead a comeback. Today Fields got that opportunity and he did a great job. Botched snap aside, Fields made great reads finding receivers for big plays when needed and taking the check down when the big play wasn't there. Fields did a great job expanding the pocket and being creative when the pressure came down on him sometimes breaking out big runs but being disciplined enough to pass when he saw his man. Having a dynamic QB in the short yardage situations is so fun to watch and Fields showed up twice running the ball into the end zone himself after going through his progressions. Toss in a TD pass as well and we have a QB capable of scoring 3 TDs again. Despite the key mistake in a big moment, this game was not on Fields. Fields showed today that there will be games that the Steelers don't just win with him, they win because of him.

Shout Out Joe Flacco

That was frustrating to watch if you're a Steelers fan wasn't it? Joe's still got it! After ultra talented and athletic QB Anthony Richardson went down with injury early, 39 year old Joe Flacco stepped in and delivered a strong performance. I wanted to focus in on the fourth quarter. The Steelers were making a big comeback push, a 3 and out by the defense would've shoved the momentum entirely towards black and gold. First play Joe drops back to pass, the pass rush gets to him, wraps him up and Joe barely gets rid of the ball outside of the pocket and across the line of scrimmage, incomplete pass, second and 10. Next play almost identical, this time with 2 defenders on him Joe barely gets a pass off incomplete. Pass rush wins twice and Joe finds a way to minimize the damage both times. Then Joe connects on 3rd and 10 and the drive stays alive. The little things like this are what will drive opposing fans crazy, but even as a Steelers fan I had to admit it was pretty cool to see him perform like this. Good stat that will haunt the defense all week: Joe Flacco was 6/8 on third down pass attempts for 6 first downs. Rarely was he in 3rd and short situations too, Joe just stayed cool and delivered when it mattered.

There's lots I could talk about in this one but lets cut it here, a loss is a loss and it won't be the last one of the season that's for sure. I think it's worth being upset that they lost, but mistakes happen especially with a young football team. There's going to be more games this season where they lose the turnover again. I think if anything it is encouraging to see the team fight to come back rather than just rolling over, and they showed that they're capable of some big offensive outputs when their backs are against the wall. I expect the team to respond on national TV next week, I'll be waiting all day for Sunday night.