Steelers D Carries, Offense Buries
Image Courtesy of Matt Freed Pittsburgh Post- Gazette
The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped their 2022 home opener 17-14 to the New England Patriots in a very slow, sluggish game.
First off, it is very obvious that T.J. Watt is the heart and soul of the defense. His presence and leadership on the field are about the equivalent of having Sidney Crosby on your team. The defense is a lot better when Watt is on the field. With that being said, the defense wasn’t that terrible against the Pats. But some obvious flukes need to be addressed.
The first was that the Steelers didn’t record a single sack all game. This is unusual for the Steelers. Very rarely do the Steelers not record a sack for the whole game. The second was that the on both offense and defense they played too conservatively. The defense at the time gave the Pats too much room for Mac Jones to take his time and make quality throws down the middle. As for the offense, they ran the ball too many times in addition to making one-to-two yard pass attempts on third and long.
Mitch Trubisky again did nothing to impress on the field or the stat chart. He completed 21 of 33 passes for 168 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. A majority of those passes were those short throws that Steeler fans have become accustomed to over the past three seasons. It’s something Ben Roethlisberger started doing in the final years of his career. Since he didn’t have an offensive line and he didn’t want to get hit, he utilized the check-down throws and got the ball out more quickly than he did his whole career.
Frustrated fans at Acrisure Stadium got the “Kenny” chants going when they realized Trubisky wasn’t helping the Steeler’s chances of winning.
There may be a chance that Steeler fans may see their beloved college hero sooner rather than later. The Steelers return home for Week four against the New York Jets. While their Week three matchup against Cleveland is on a Thursday night, it may be too short of notice to try to get Kenny ready in three days. After Thursday’s game, the Steelers should have roughly a week to prepare Kenny for the Jets. Realistically that would be a good spot to start Kenny. However, the Jets are coming off an impressive upset win over the Browns, so that game may not go as smoothly as people might think, but it would still be a good chance to give the young rookie a shot.
The Steelers still have a ton of work to do especially on the O-Line. Watt’s absence will haunt the Steelers for at least five more games. And on short week fatigue will sure kick in on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 8:20 EST on Amazon Prime.
