3 Takeaways from Steelers' Week 3 Loss vs. Browns
The Pittsburgh Steelers have had the weekend to digest their Thursday night loss to the Cleveland Browns, and we've had a few days to dissect exactly what went wrong.
Pittsburgh was looking to get back on track after stumbling through a Week 2 loss to the New England Patriots, and for two quarters, it appeared the Steelers would do exactly that. The offense, led by Mitch Trubisky, finally seemed to find a spark and the Steelers took a 14-13 lead into halftime.
As has been the case in every game this season, however, the Steelers struggled to play a full four quarters of football. The defense couldn't get off the field in the second half, while the offense couldn't stay on it. The result was a disappointing loss to an AFC North rival and a 1-2 record on the season.
Here are our three biggest takeaways from Pittsburgh's 29-17 loss to Cleveland.
Matt Canada's Game Planning Should Be Called into Question
Steelers fans may be growing tired of watching Trubisky under center, but quarterback is not the only offensive issue right now. The ground game continues to underwhelm, and the offensive line is a problem.
The game planning of offensive coordinator Matt Canada hasn't helped the situation. His play calling has been both conservative and predictable, which has allowed opposing defenses to clamp down on the run.
Deep shots have been few and far between, though we did see a few early against Cleveland. Despite having a Pro Bowl back in Najee Harris, Pittsburgh has averaged just 4.1 yards per carry.
The Steelers have failed to get the ball to promising rookie George Pickens, whose lone highlight on the season was a ridiculous one-handed catch on Thursday. Pickens has only five catches for 65 yards through three games.
Canada's adjustments have also been questionable. Through three weeks, Pittsburgh has scored just 16 points in the second half and overtime. Clearly, Canada isn't solely responsible for Pittsburgh's struggles.
"We just make plays and hope the coaches call the right plays and put us in the right position. Obviously we didn't do that," wideout Diontae Johnson said, per 93.7 The Fan.
However, Canada desperately needs to find a way to spark the offense.
Defense Cannot Carry This Team in 2022
The offensive issues may get ironed out in the coming weeks, perhaps starting with the 1-2 New York Jets on Sunday. After all, Pittsburgh does still have talented players like Harris, Johnson, Pickens, Chase Claypool and Pat Freiermuth on the roster.
If the line can gel, and Canada can bring some inspired game plans, we could see more of what we saw in the first half against Cleveland. If not, though, the Steelers will really be in trouble.
Winning with defense simply isn't going to happen this season. The Steelers' best player, T.J. Watt, is out with a torn pectoral. Without him, there simply aren't enough defensive playmakers to carry this team.
The Steelers sacked Browns QB Jacoby Brissett twice but failed to force a turnover while allowing him to post a 109.6 passer rating. A run defense that was worst in the NFL last season doesn't appear much better in 2022.
Through three weeks, Pittsburgh ranks a respectable 13th in yards per rush allowed (4.2), but it got gashed by Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt on Thursday. The Browns racked up 171 yards on the ground.
The reality is that Pittsburgh's 24th-ranked defense is very turnover-dependent. It forced five against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 and scraped out an overtime win. It has just one takeaway since and has dropped back-to-back games against relatively unimpressive opponents.
A Quarterback Change Now Feels Inevitable
Head coach Mike Tomlin insisted after the loss that he isn't considering a change to rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett.
"I'm not in that mindset," Tomlin said, per NFL.com's Michael Baca. "I'm interested in reviewing his tape and looking at the totality of it and figuring how we collectively get better."
The quarterback questions will keep coming. Eventually, a quarterback change will too.
It now feels inevitable that we'll see the rookie at some point in 2022. The only way we won't is if Trubisky can keep Pittsburgh in the playoff hunt. After dropping a winnable game to the Brissett-led Browns, that feels unlikely.
To be fair, the Steelers climbed out of a 1-3 hole last season to make the playoffs, so it is too early to write them off. However, a brutal schedule awaits after the Jets game. Pittsburgh then plays the Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles.
Even if Pittsburgh gets back to .500 against New York, it may well be sitting at 2-6 at the Week 9 bye.
We're likely to see Pickett debut at some point in the second half of the season—perhaps in an attempt to spark the offense or, maybe simply so that Pittsburgh can get a look at its future.
The Steelers aren't playing well enough on either side of the ball to be considered legitimate contenders right now. Expect Trubisky to remain the placeholder through a daunting upcoming stretch but not to keep Pickett on the bench for another 14 games.