The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped to 1-1 after an embarrassing performance against the Seattle Seahawks. I can’t imagine there will be too many Varsity performances to highlight, but there is sure to be a ton of bad, so let’s get into it.
Varsity
CB Jalen Ramsey
Ramsey was one of very few Steelers worth anything on Sunday. He recorded his first interception as a Steeler on the first play of Seattle’s second drive. He undercut an out route by his former teammate Cooper Kupp and picked off Sam Darnold. Of course, the Steelers settled
for a field goal, but that turnover made it a 7-6 game. Ramsey was also credited with a blocked field goal on Jason Meyers, redirecting the kick that the Seahawks’ kicker missed.
RB Jaylen Warren
Warren made it very clear he is far and away the best running back on the Steelers’ roster. He made one of the plays of the early season, catching a sidearm pass from Aaron Rodgers and taking it 65 yards after dodging every player who’s ever put on a Seahawks uniform. He finished the day with 134 total yards on 18 touches.
EDGE Nick Herbig
I’ve said it for the last year – Herbig is the second-best edge rusher on the roster. With Alex Highsmith out for roughly two months, he’ll have a chance to showcase that. He had two tackles for loss and a momentum-shifting interception that led to the Steelers taking a 14-7 lead after a Rodgers touchdown pass to DK Metcalf and a two-point conversion to Darnell Washington.
Junior-Varsity
RB Kaleb Johnson
Just inexcusable not to know the kickoff rules as a kick returner. It was the huge turning point of the game, and he’ll likely never return a kick again.
LBs Payton Wilson and Patrick Queen
This week’s film study session will be on the free real estate in the middle of the Steelers’ defense – any guess who is to blame for that? Wilson and Queen have been completely invisible through the first two weeks of the season in both the run and pass game.
Run Defense
Kenneth Walker averaged eight yards per carry and had 105 yards and a touchdown. This is after the Seahawks’ run game looked pedestrian against the 49ers in Week 1. The Steelers cannot keep trotting Keeanu Benton in at nose tackle. A healthy Derrick Harmon should help, but he alone won’t make the defense a cohesive unit.
EDGE T.J. Watt
I understand he’s made a few plays in the run game over the last two weeks, but the Steelers are paying him $41 million per year to be a game-changing pass rusher, which he has not been. Dating back to last season, Watt has gone six games without a sack. That’s just not acceptable with the checks he’s putting in the bank.
TE Pat Freiermuth
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I wouldn’t have paid Pat Freiermuth. He makes little to no impact on the outcomes of games. On the Steelers’ first drive, Aaron Rodgers uncorked an ungodly vintage Rodgers throw while running to his right. He fit the ball to Freiermuth over a defender on the sideline, and the Steelers’ tight end simply dropped it. The Steelers still got downfield and put three points on the board, but when you pay a tight end $12 million per year, you expect him to make big plays in the passing game, and Freiermuth largely doesn’t.
OC Arthur Smith
Predictable play-calling on early downs led to eight third-and-long situations for the Steelers. The insistence on giving Kenneth Gainwell touches while Jaylen Warren is running roughshod is maddening. God forbid the Steelers have an explosive offense in consecutive games. Nope, back to almost no air yards, short, dinky, empty carolorie throws that the Seahawks are sitting on and waiting for before an inevitable punt. Art did a complete 180 from Week 1, and it was really frustrating to watch.
HC Mike Tomlin
No coach talks out of both sides of his mouth like Tomlin. “We don’t live in our fears,” he says before punting on 4th-and-1 from midfield during a tie game. “The standard is the standard,” he proclaims before putting a rookie who returned a grand total of five kicks back as his kick returner – oh, and that rookie doesn’t know the rules. The Steelers’ defense is a tire fire. Their offense was once again stale, and the man under the headset coaches with his tail between his legs. You could put Teryl Austin in here, too, but we all know who runs the defense. Austin is the King of England – he’s just a figurehead with little to no power. Tomlin is parliament.
It’s a long season, but this is nothing more than a sequel to what we’ve seen year after year after year with Lt. 10-7. It’s the Lethal Weapon 4 of Mike Tomlin coaching gaffes, and fans are stuck with it as long as Tomlin wants to stay in Pittsburgh because he’ll never be fired. What a lovely future to look forward to.
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