Steelers Week 5 Reaction

 Ugh. I thought that when the Steelers started 3-0 that I would have so much fun doing this. I really thought that every Monday morning I would be extremely excited to write about one of my favorite teams, that's what this is for right? For fun? I guess a vent post is just as useful, saves my girlfriend an earful that's for sure.

The Steelers had every chance to win that game last night but just couldn't get it done. The game started by being delayed an hour and a half due to a thunderstorm, meaning I stayed up until 1am to get my heart ripped out. The defense forced multiple turnovers, the special teams made plays and Fields ended up showing up at the end when it mattered, but it wasn't enough. Lets get into some of my thoughts: 

George Pickens Would Be Benched If They Could Replace Him

It's funny, when I was in Pittsburgh not one but two different Uber drivers complained about George Pickens' attitude problems. When the Steelers are winning and he's getting stats, everything looks great and fun. When the Steelers are losing or if he's not getting the ball, he mopes, complains and makes boneheaded plays. To start my Pickens complaints I need to go back to last week. The Steelers lost to the Colts last week in a game that I was disappointed but encouraged by. Pickens notably put up 7 receptions for 113 yards, a pretty good game in the loss. But the team lost. When I opened Instagram on Monday I saw Pickens posted a photoshoot hyping himself up for his 113 yard day. Again, the Steelers lost the football game. I understand the stats were good but you didn't win the game, and a big reason for it was a fumble committed by Pickens near the goal line! The Steelers were terrible on 3rd down last night, going just 3/12. One play that could've turned the game around was a 3rd and 5 in the second half where Fields hit Pickens right on the hands for an easy first down, except it was dropped by Pickens. For all the talent Pickens has, it's the routine plays that he misses from time to time that really kill the offense' momentum. This is all building up to the final play of the game where after the whistle blew and the clock hit 0 Pickens yanks down a Cowboys defender by his facemask. The Mental toughness needs to improve, George: you were locked up all game and took the L no need to take it further. 

There was a lot of talk yesterday about how Pickens saw a reduced snap count. Tomlin in the post game pressers seemed to indicate the attitude issues had something to do with it. The problem here is, the other Steelers receivers really stink. With Pickens only playing a fraction of the snaps, the offense looked horrid last night. Nobody else on the team consistently gets open. Fields created multiple plays with his legs, but some of the hits he was taking last night are unsustainable for a QB to be taking. If the Steelers had any choice here they would be benching Pickens for the next game, but if they did things will get ugly pretty quickly. 

Please Come Back Jaylen Warren

I am officially over watching Najee Harris in the backfield. I wrote last week, I get the sunk cost fallacy of spending a first round pick on the guy, but when can we finally just admit that he isn't very good. At this point, he has to be run out there with both Cordarrelle Patterson and Jaylen Warren out with injuries, but his production has been disappointing to say the least. One good thing you can say about Najee is when he gets out in space, he can rumble and make guys miss. This has lead to some solid results in the passing game on screen plays or checkdowns. The issue here though is that Najee isn't an elite receiver. This isn't LeVeon Bell out of the backfield, he can make the simple receiving plays but he won't be out there making any big catches down the field. On the ground, Najee has been just bad. He seems to struggle to find the hole the O-line makes him and when he does, he hits it slow as if he's running in sand. Another game Najee Harris averages just 3YPC, at some point we just need to acknowledge that this is what he is. This one isn't squarely on Najee today but I had to carve out a little time to complain about him before I moved on. 

Defense - Bend Don't Break

I've seen a lot of online reaction criticizing the Steelers defense in this one, and yes they did give up a lot of yards. Particularly in the running game where the Cowboys entered this game as one of the bottom running teams in the league. The Steelers allowed them to accumulate 109 yards on the ground, not horrific but not great against a poor running team. All this being said, I don't actually think the defense was that bad. The Steelers played conservative as they tend to do. When the chips were down, the Steelers created 2 turnovers in the redzone and another interception late in the game. Generating 3 takeaways is typically enough to win football games. People are going to focus a lot on that last drive where the Cowboys managed to both march down the field and run the clock before scoring the game winning touchdown, but what will be lost is the nearly 2 turnovers the Steelers nearly created leading up to that play. On first and goal from the 2 yard line, Dak took off in a scramble to the sideline. As Dak dove extending the ball forward, Minkah Fitzpatrick jarred the ball loose. The fumble bounced inches away from going over the goal line for a game ending touchback, instead it was out of bounds at the 6 inch line. Then second and inches, Ezekiel Elliot leaps over the pile only for Elandon Roberts to meet him mid air in one of the most athletic defensive plays you'll ever see. Eliot loses the football on the hit but the fumble lands right in front of Dak who dives on the ball to save the Cowboys yet again. 3rd and goal from the 4 now the Steelers force and incompletion before Dak hits his man for the game winner on 4th and goal. The result isn't what you want, but the Steelers big playmakers did make big plays all game, including on that game winning drive. A more fortuitous bounce and I would be here writing a likely much shorter and much happier article this morning. 

TJ Watt

Shout out TJ Watt man. I was going to jam this into the defense segment but I think TJ deserves his own paragraph to honor hitting 100 sacks. Even more impressive, he hit 100 sacks in just 106 games, the second fastest to hit that mark only to Reggie White who did it in 96 games. TJ's impact was felt all game long, they were shifting around their schemes to manage him all game. No matter how the seasons go, us Steelers fans should count ourselves lucky to be able to watch a generational talent week in and week out. 

Just Not Enough

Ok, no real points in this paragraph. I've gotten it all off my chest now, at the end of the day the Steelers could've won this one but just didn't. This kind of thing happens all the time in the NFL and I guarantee won't be the last time it happens to the Steelers even this season. The defense wasn't perfect, but it played well enough to set the Steelers up in good positions. The offense didn't come alive until the very end, but also played well enough to win a lot of games. The Steelers schedule "eases" a little next week with the LV Raiders, who also have a certain receiver of interest. I predict now that the Steelers bounce back in a big way next week, restoring the vibes.