Druin's Five Thoughts: Fichtner's Offense Costing Steelers More by the Week
All good things must come to an end.
After starting the season 11-0, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally got their first taste of defeat by way of a 23-17 defeat to the Washington Football Team.
Despite losing on Monday night, not much changes for the Steelers in the grand scheme of the regular season. Pittsburgh still controls their path to the number one seed in the AFC thanks to a better in-conference record than their 11-1 counterparts in the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers also remain two games ahead of the 9-3 Cleveland Browns in the race for the AFC North title, with a week seventeen meeting scheduled in Cleveland.
Pittsburgh now must go on the road to Buffalo, where a 9-3 Bills squad looks ready to gain ground on the Steelers in a Sunday night primetime matchup. Prior to their road trip up north, the Steelers will look back on Monday night's game and focus on points of emphasis to carry into their next matchup.
While Flavell's Five Thoughts typically does a great job of capturing those points, I'm hoping to graciously fill in with a few thoughts of my own:
Randy Fichtner Continues to Hold Steelers Offense Hostage
Just two weeks ago, I wrote a piece detailing offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and how his offensive tendencies/play-calling are holding Pittsburgh back from their true potential. Since then, the Steelers have failed to score over twenty points in both contests played.
I'll level with you, Fichtner isn't the only problem. In fact, every player on the offensive side of the football needs a long look in the mirror before this team thinks they're gliding to a Lombardi trophy. Missed blocking assignments, poor throws and terrible drops included.
While Fichtner isn't the only problem, he is perhaps Pittsburgh's biggest concern at the moment. Failing to score on four plays within a yard of the goal line (one pass to a back-up offensive tackle) while remaining one dimensional in the form of continually bad screen passes and three-yard passing routes no matter the down and distance inevitably stalled Pittsburgh's offense.
On the field, there's little Fichtner can control. However, Fichtner simply isn't putting his players in the best position to win, and Monday night proved too difficult for even Ben Roethlisberger to overshadow that despite his efforts all season. If people such as you and I are capable of predicting Fichtner's play-calls, no wonder defensive coordinators are finding success as of late.
No Established Running Game is Beginning to Show
Anthony McFarland paced the Steelers in rushing yards, gaining a whopping 15 yards on four carries. Washington limited Pittsburgh to a mere 1.5 yards per rush.
Everybody knows the Steelers simply cannot run the football right now. Washington knew it heading into Monday, and with Roethlisberger attempting 53 passes in their losing effort, it appeared the Steelers are well aware of it as well.
No Maurkice Pouncey or James Conner definitely reared it's ugly head, as every rushing attempt essentially proved wasteful. It's one thing to not be able to effectively run the football. It's another thing for opposing defenses to know this and gameplan more heavily for a passing attack.
Such was the case for Washington, who feared no Steelers ball-carrier out of the backfield and, as a result, were able to drop more players effectively into coverage. Their constant four-man pass rush proved how confident in Pittsburgh's ability to run the ball.
A one-dimensional offense simply won't win games when it matters, and that's starting to show. That's not on Pittsburgh's lack of rushing attempts, but more-so on their lack of success when rushing. Which brings me to my next point.
Kevin Dotson Needs to Start Immediately
Like, yesterday.
Pittsburgh's offensive line, with or without Maurkice Pouncey, has looked a shell of its former self in recent memory despite many people still wanting to tout its past success. This mainly can be attributed to guards Matt Feiler and David DeCastro, as both interior players have taken drastic steps back in the quality of play we're used to seeing.
While rookie Kevin Dotson isn't the sole elixir to Pittsburgh's running problems, he's certainly a step in the right direction. This isn't a knee jerk reaction. This isn't a one-game solution. I haven't been a fan of Feiler's move to guard from the start, and DeCastro simply isn't getting the job done on his side of the line as well in both pass and run situations.
Should he still be dealing with injury, starting Dotson in his place would give DeCastro ample time to heal and get back to the Pro Bowl level of play we're accustomed to. Regardless of excuses, results are not coming in. Defensive bodies aren't being moved for running backs, and the Steelers drafted Dotson to do exactly that.
It's time to unleash Dotson, regardless if DeCastro once played at an All-Pro level or Feiler had one good outing playing guard last season.
Steelers Need to Remain Confident in James Washington
Despite only having four targets and two receptions, James Washington led the Steelers in receiving yards. To put that in perspective, Eric Ebron/Diontae Johnson/JuJu Smith-Schuster each had double-digit targets.
I'll be real, Washington isn't the most talented receiver on the team. When Chase Claypool was drafted, I pointed to Washington as the odd man out of Pittsburgh's main trio to trot out play after play. For a majority of the season, the Steelers did just this, and for a majority of the season, it was fine. Claypool dominated headlines early, as did the other pass catchers on the team.
Then, the drops invaded Pittsburgh's receiver room like the plague.
Through the past two weeks, it appears the only reliable Steelers pass catcher has been Washington. While Washington may not be the swiss army knife Pittsburgh can use for any scenario, Washington needs to continue to see his name called, at least as long as everybody around him continues to prove unreliable in hauling in passes.
Bigger Goals Exist Than Going Undefeated
Look, losing sucks. The Steelers shouldn't have lost on Monday, and while the playoffs are virtually a lock moving forward, the road to the Super Bowl going through Pittsburgh just got more difficult to maintain. Real problems exist, many of which I highlighted above, that the Steelers need to solve before anybody thinks of planning parades in February.
However, the season isn't over. We're still talking about an 11-1 football team with four weeks to figure their stuff out and get healthy prior to the playoffs. Losing was bound to happen, but I think it's important to remember that no matter how upset fans may be, the sun will rise tomorrow and the team will get back to work.
Of course Pittsburgh wanted to move to 12-0, yet bigger goals exist in the grand scheme of the season. There's a reason only one team in NFL history have completed a full season without a loss to their name, and although they'll be toasting their champagne to Pittsburgh's most recent outing, the Steelers still have a solid chance of matching their postseason run.
Donnie Druin is a Staff Writer with AllSteelers. Follow Donnie on Twitter @DonnieDruin, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
