Flavell's Five Thoughts: Steelers' Downward Spiral Continues
Week by week, things seem to be getting worse for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They've now become the first team with a winning record to lose two straight games to teams that are 8-plus games under .500. Talk about embarrassing.
First, the Arizona Cardinals. Now, the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football in front of a nationally televised crowd. It got so bad that fans were chanting for Mason Rudolph after a handful of empty offensive drives. Yikes.
Inept play-calling. Horrible coaching decisions. Timeout usage that a thigh-school coach wouldn't even be envious of. A quarterback aimlessly throwing the football around the field. The list goes on. There is a lot to discuss with the Steelers and their state of affairs as we head into the final quarter of their season.
Poor Coaching
The entire coaching staff is to blame for this game. Mike Tomlin, noted for living in his fears despite claiming that he doesn't, went for a fourth-down conversion in the red zone after the Steelers' Mykal Walker intercepted a tipped pass. A field goal would've simply made the game a one-possession football game. He passed on that, and the Steelers were stuffed on fourth down.
The offensive coordinator tandem of Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan called some very lackluster plays throughout the game, plays that Tomlin obviously signed off on.
Teryl Austin's defense was gashed for 21 first-half points by a Patriots offense that scored zero points in a 6-0 to the San Diego Chargers last weekend.
When all three of the top on-field coaches got outclassed, you aren't going to win many of those games.
The attempted Connor Heyward pass from the one-yard line on the short side of the field. Trying to pass on 3rd-and-2 despite the two-minute warning timeout being in your back pocket, throwing incomplete a second short of the two-minute warning, and then throwing the ball 40 yards downfield on 4th-and-2 with the game on the line? It is a total clown show.
The Steelers are 7-6 and are now on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. They've been out-coached in multiple facets in more games than not. Their outlook for this season and beyond is looking rather bleak.
The Quarterback Situation is Bad
Mitch Trubisky was bad in this game. There is no way around it. He showed some mobility similar to what Kenny Pickett has shown. However, his aggressiveness is more of a curse than a blessing.
Guys like Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow can get away with being aggressive because they are talented enough and smart enough to make a play. Trubisky finds the most covered receiver on the field and tries to fit it into a window that doesn't exist.
66,000-plus fans were chanting for Mason Rudolph. That is rock-bottom for a franchise that spent the better part of two decades rooting for a franchise quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger. They wanted to see Mason Rudolph. That says a whole lot.
Pickett likely will miss the game against Indianapolis and then maybe has an outside shot to return against the Cincinnati Bengals. He started to look better in his six-quarter post-Matt Canada. It is fair to believe that the Steelers win at least one of these games with Pickett at the helm simply because he doesn't take the non-calculated risks that Trubisky does.
Indianapolis' offense has been surprisingly efficient under Gardner Minshew's leadership. They score points, and the Steelers may struggle to keep up with them if Trubisky can't distribute the ball without turning it over.
Minkah's Comments Proof of Culture Problem
The Steelers' locker room culture has come into question the past few weeks as rumors come out about fights, lack of focus, effort, and other such traits. Following the game, Minkah Fitzpatrick commented on the Steelers' locker room mentality.
"Dudes just think that because they're wearing the black and gold that they're going to win games."
This quote says a lot about the locker room. The Steelers have long been a team that was feared. Teams coming to Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium knew they were going to play against a high-powered offense and a shut-you-up style of defense. Renegade. Terrible Towels. The big, bad Steelers were once scary, and simply wearing their jersey gave you superpowers. That hasn't been the case for a long time.
Too many instances have come out lately of players not playing the whole play. Fights in the locker room. Players underperforming. You name it, it has happened for the Steelers in recent weeks. Fitzpatrick called out the mentality as a true leader on the roster for a team that simply has not looked like much more than the two-win teams they just lost to.
Slim-Pickings again for Pickens
George Pickens is insanely talented. We've seen it on the few occasions that he has gotten an opportunity to be a part of the Steelers' offensive game plan. They tried to get him involved this week...by sending him on two-yard out routes.
Pickens finished the game with five catches for 19 yards, a long of seven yards. Oh boy.
Pickens has three 100-yard games this season. Even in an offense that hasn't been great in the passing game, Pickens has risen to the occasion when actually included. His 19-yard effort in this game is his second-lowest of the season. With the backup quarterback being seen as "aggressive", why don't you use Pickens for a couple of shot plays, knowing that he typically comes down with the ball when given a chance?
The Steelers simply need to try to get him more involved. They drafted him in the second round last season, knowing he is a playmaker who only slipped because of his injury history at Georgia. However, Connor Heyward continues to see involvement in an offense that needs to be tailored to guys like Pickens, Pat Freiermuth, and Diontae Johnson instead.
Next OC Must Be From Outside
Flavell's Five is offense-discussion-heavy this week. I'll finish it off with a take that has been echoed for a while but continues to become more and more clear.
Mike Tomlin likely will be back unless things really go south. That's just how the Steelers have operated mostly. If that's the case, people above Tomlin have to mandate an outside hire for the Steelers offensive coordinator.
Mike Sullivan's play-calling reputation is not a good one. Eddie Faulkner is getting judged off of this season, fairly of not under a Matt Canada playbook. Things are not good in Pittsburgh with the offense.
There are so many young, offensive-minded coaches out there at the moment at both the NFL and college level. The Steelers need to find one of these guys and make Tomlin feel a bit of pressure. The constant promotion from within for these types of coordinator positions just can't continue. It hasn't worked for a while now. Teryl Austin should not be free of blame on the defensive side, either.
With four games left on the schedule, the Steelers' final month will not be short of storylines and intrigue.
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