A battle between two of the NFL’s best teams ended as an ugly slog for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who lost 27-13 on the road. As always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had:
1. Down but not out
In many ways, the Steelers’ Sunday loss feels eerily similar to the team’s Week 12 loss to the Cleveland Browns. The general consensus heading into the game was that the Steelers would probably lose, and they did — but the reaction is once again outrage.
“Any given Sunday” always holds true, sure, but didn’t we all see this coming? Without George Pickens and DeShon Elliott, the Steelers were down their best offensive player and one of their best defenders. They were playing in a historically tough road environment against a talented 11-2 team.
It was a bit uglier than expected, with not one first down in the opening quarter and a brutal defensive letdown in the fourth. But at the end of the day, the Steelers were an uncharacteristic Najee Harris fumble away from making a game of it in the second half.
That isn’t to downplay the bad. The Steelers were thoroughly outplayed and outcoached on Sunday — there’s no doubt about it. But as long as T.J. Watt’s injury isn’t serious and Pickens returns to the lineup soon, there’s no reason to throw the towel for the 2024 season.
What did Sunday teach us that we didn’t know already? The defense has some issues. The offense has some issues. It’s going to be hard to overcome those issues on the road against an elite opponent and without George Pickens.
At the end of the day, that’s the same Steelers we’ve watched all year, and the same group that has already beaten four teams that are currently in the playoff picture. Every team in the AFC, with the exception of the Buffalo Bills, looks like a reasonably winnable matchup for Pittsburgh.
Maybe some of the “Super Bowl contender” hype has gotten out of control late this season — depending on your definition of “contender,” of course — but this loss should not be causing the consternation it currently is. And let’s be honest, most of it will dissipate if the Steelers win the AFC North next week against the Baltimore Ravens.
Critique the Steelers where it’s deserved. But rants about the sky falling don’t really fit on a weekend where Pittsburgh clinched a playoff spot.
2. T.J. Watt’s Defensive Player of the Year case gets a boost
I know, I know. Talking about individual accolades following a loss is going to rub some the wrong way. But this was a narrative prior to the game, and Watt seemed to be paying attention, logging seven tackles, two sacks, a tackle for loss, and a forced fumble against one of the NFL’s best offensive lines on Sunday.
It’s the type of stat sheet-filling performance from Watt that we haven’t seen as often as usual this season (he’s still had plenty). He’s now within one sack of the league lead, and added to his NFL-best tackle for loss and forced fumble numbers.
Watt is still a ways away from losing his game-wrecking ability, even if his “down” sack numbers have some worried. It’s been another great season from No. 90. Let’s hope the ankle heals up.
3. Coaching was the Steelers’ biggest problem
Execution was an issue against Philadelphia: offensive line struggles, defensive backs losing one-on-ones, missed tackles, and various other penalties and mistakes. This was a true team loss if I’ve ever seen one.
But a lot of the Steelers’ problems on Sunday stemmed from poor coaching. Mike Tomlin called two painfully late timeouts and opted to punt down two scores in the fourth quarter on a midfield fourth-and-seven. Keep in mind, this was in a game where the Eagles had nearly twice the time of possession as the Steelers and had already scored 27 points — you can probably guess what happened next. (I’ll excuse the declined penalty on second-and-20; the difference between that at first-and-30 is arguable.)
I criticized Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith last week for struggling to get the offense going without top wide receiver George Pickens, but recognized Pickens’ absence was last-minute and some of the unpreparedness was forgivable. This week, it’s harder to defend. The Eagles defense is incredibly good, but the Steelers started the game with five straight possessions with no first downs. Five!
Nothing was open in the passing game, with the Eagles easily taking away everything downfield and forcing Russell Wilson to throw dump-off passes that were quickly shut down. It was made worse by the Steelers forcing themselves into obvious passing situations by stubbornly running on early downs despite no success on the ground. It was a stagnant selection of playcalls overall.
The Steelers’ Pickens replacement Mike Williams, who the team traded a fifth-round pick to acquire earlier this season, was targeted just twice for one catch and once again had minimal playing time.
On defense, the Steelers successfully slowed down superstar running back Saquon Barkley, holding him to just 65 yards and 3.5 yards per carry. Not bad. But Pittsburgh sold out a bit too much, allowing Jalen Hurts to have an incredibly efficient, 25/32 performance for nearly 300 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
The Steelers just didn’t have an answer for the Eagles’ defensive coverages, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith. Pittsburgh found a bit of momentum at the end of the second quarter and near the beginning of the third, but they fumbled, penalized, and punted it away. This was a loss at nearly every level for the Steelers, and when that’s the case, it starts at the top.
Pittsburgh’s coaching staff hasn’t been bad this year. If anything, Mike Tomlin has shown just how important he is to the Steelers’ success with the job he’s done in 2024. However, Philadelphia was a step in the wrong direction. And if you disagree, you can ask Tomlin himself:
4. Odds and ends
- Batted passes were a consistent problem for Russell Wilson in this game. The NFL has gotten more friendly for sub-6’ quarterbacks, but it can still be a problem.
- The Steelers’ starting cornerback duo of Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson has felt like less and less of a strength as the season progresses. Not panicking yet, but it’s worrying.
- If there’s one positive in the secondary, James Pierre seemed to play well in replacement of the injured Jackson at cornerback. Strong secondary depth will be essential as the season wears on.
- Philadelphia escaping the first-quarter scuffle without any penalties, despite clearly-thrown punches by Eagles players, was inexcusable. The lack of offsetting penalties killed what was a great chance at a touchdown for a struggling Steelers offense. The referees are not the reason Pittsburgh lost, but that doesn’t excuse some real officiating malpractice in the game.
- Never change, Calvin Austin:
- The Steelers only giving Jaylen Warren four carries is puzzling. Najee Harris wasn’t doing any better, and Warren’s explosiveness was desperately needed.
- Pat Freiermuth had a third straight game with a touchdown. He could’ve used some more targets against Philadelphia, but he’s living up to his contract for the Steelers.
- It wasn’t a career game for Russell Wilson by any means, but he’s continuing to make plays in the middle of the field and contributed most if not all of the Steelers’ offensive spark on Sunday. If Pittsburgh had let him loose a bit earlier, maybe the offense gets a faster start.
- A cool tidbit from Steelers.com: Chris Boswell broke the Steelers’ records for most field goals and most points in a season following his performance against the Eagles; T.J. Watt set the Steelers record for the most forced fumbles in franchise history since they became an official statistic.
Sunday’s loss left the Steelers with a bad taste in their mouths, but that can be remedied in an afternoon when Pittsburgh takes on the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday with a chance at winning the AFC North.
