Tomlin under pressure to make changes with another lopsided loss
by Bo Marchionte
Published October 2, 2023, 8:33 AM
Pittsburgh, PA – The trip to Houston was the reality check needed to reassure the Steelers that everything isn’t alright in Pittsburgh. A humiliating loss to the Texans 30-6 that saw both the offense and defense play poorly.
Adding insult to injury, Kenny Pickett suffered a knee injury and exited the game during the third quarter after going 15-of-23 for 114 yards and one interception. Back-up Mitchell Trubisky capped off the dismal offensive performance with 18 yards passing on five pass attempts with three completions.
How long will the status quo remain?
“Hell, yeah we’ve got to make some changes,” Mike Tomlin said after the loss to Houstin. “That was an ugly product we put out there today.”
It would be surprising to see significant changes, especially regarding Matt Canada who is coaching on borrowed time at this point in his tenure as offensive coordinator. I would guess the changes would be player related and minimal at best. Tomlin doesn’t come across as the type of coach who is going to have an upheaval of the staff, four games into the season.
Tomlin has his critics, but I’m a firm believer he’ll manage to save face and turn it around.
Steelers Week 4 Recap: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good: Kenny Pickett’s Knee Isn’t Season Ending
The latest news as of this writing is that Pickett did not suffer an ACL injury, which is a huge relief for the organization. The rumored ‘MCL’ sprain should keep him out a few weeks and remember the Steelers have a bye week after hosting the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium this Sunday. While the progress of Pickett is critical since he was their first-round pick last season, let’s be honest the offense wasn’t moving the ball and Trubisky stepping in shouldn’t derail an offensive juggernaut that doesn’t exist. While the development of Pickett is crucial the slight setback of his injury is just part of a larger dysfunction of the offense.
The Good: Najee Harris big play
Another first-round pick that plays hard but hasn’t found that rhythm to take over games. Sunday, Harris did provide some big plays and his 32-yard catch on third-and-4 to help get the Steelers to the 8-yard line is what the Steelers need more of from Harris. The drive stalled after that, and they settled for a 23-yard field goal, but nonetheless Harris finished the game with a season-high 71 rushing yards and a long run of 23-yards. Opening the third-quarter, Harris and the offensive line were dialed in, with runs of 15 yards and 18 yards by Jaylen Warren that put Pittsburgh as deep as the Texans 15-yard before sputtering out and settling for a 35-yard Chris Boswell field goal.
The Bad: Points Scored
The Steelers offense failed to score more than 10-points for the second time this season and third time since last year, when losing to Buffalo 38-3. In Canada’s inaugural season he had two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger at the helm. His retirement brought a collection of Pickett, Trubisky, and holdover Mason Rudolph. The Steelers offense ranked 12th overall in points scored in 2020, prior to Canada taking over as the OC and under his watch, Pittsburgh has finished 21st (2021), 26th (2022), and currently 25th this season. Take away the splash plays by George Pickens and Calvin Austin in weeks one and two and there is nothing that would indulge the average fan to be happy about the current state the Steelers offense finds themselves in.
The Bad: Points Allowed
Pittsburgh’s defense allowed 30 points to a rookie quarterback in C.J. Stroud who played without starting tackle Laremy Tunsil (knee) and his back-up Josh Jones (hand). Despite their absences the Texans moved the football up and down the field and Stroud looked like a budding super star under the direction of first year offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. The Texans accumulated 451 yards of total offense in comparison to Pittsburgh’s 225 combined yards offensively.
The Ugly: Pittsburgh’s Identity
The preseason success had aided in Canada’s lenience. It led us down the path to being forgiving to the team since they were playing what most consider the top team in the NFC if not the entire league in the San Francisco 49ers. However, I missed the memo when mediocrity was introduced as ‘The Standard’ for Pittsburgh. Two humiliating losses in the four games they’ve played makes the wins over Cleveland and Las Vegas seem like monumental achievements. Everyone loses, and only the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots have ever gone the entire regular season with zero blemishes on their record. As we know, those ’72’ Dolphins stayed perfect throughout the playoffs while the 2007 Patriots fell short of perfection. The Week 1 and Week 4 losses exposed Pittsburgh on both sides of the football in a fashion that seldom is seen for a franchise that prides itself on winning. Four games with a total of 13 points scored and allowing a combined 60 points. Outscored 60 to 13 in blowout losses after four games is nothing but – Ugly.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com
