The Steelers saved us from buying in and made sure their annual collapse came about a month early. They’ve gone from 4-1 with a massive lead over the 1-5 Baltimore Ravens to 6-5 and out of the playoff
picture.
The loss to the Chicago Bears highlighted a lot of the same issues that have plagued the Steelers for quite some time, so let’s get into this week’s Varsity and JV performers.
Varsity
EDGE T.J. Watt
Watt passed his brother J.J. on the all-time sack list with a strip sack that was recovered for a touchdown. We’ve needed to see him make splash plays, and he did in Week 12.
EDGE Nick Herbig
Another splash play for the Steelers’ leader in splash plays, as Herbig recovered the strip sack from Watt in the end zone for a touchdown. He also had a very nice tackle for loss that lost the Bears five yards.
RB Kenneth Gainwell
Gainwell had 132 yards from scrimmage (92 rushing, 30 receiving) and had a 55-yard run on fourth down to set up a Jaylen Warren touchdown.
DT Yahya Black
The rookie from Iowa had his best game as a Steeler thus far, forcing and recovering a fumble.
Run Blocking
The Steelers ran for 186 yards on the day. They found success, as they usually do, when they went jumbo. Spencer Anderson, in particular, had a few notable downfield blocks to spring larger gains. The offensive line has been tremendous.
Juinor-Varsity
QB Mason Rudolph
I want to put an asterisk next to his name because, all things considered, Rudolph did fine. Unfortunately, though, two turnovers that led to touchdowns for the Bears certainly ended up being deciding factors.
Middle of the Field Passing
I’m doing more of a deep dive on this in another piece, so stay tuned. But let’s just say this isn’t exclusively an Arthur Smith problem.
Pass defense
Welcome back, horrible soft zone coverage! Dan Orlovsky posted a screenshot on X that summarizes the Steelers’ defense pretty well. It was 3rd-and-5, and the Steelers’ defense is backed up beyond the line to gain, which allows a very easy conversion for the Bears. Chicago kicked a field goal at the end of the first half on that drive, which proved to be pivotal in the loss.
No one coaches scared quite like Mike Tomlin.
Receiving Corps
DK Metcalf had five catches for 22 yards. The same issues with the receiving corps are there. The lack of a No. 2 receiver allows defenses to key in on Metcalf because no one fears Calvin Austin or Ben Skowronek. This falls on the front office more than anyone for not getting a WR2 for the second straight year.
HC Mike Tomlin
It starts and ends with Tomlin. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Now at 6-5, the Steelers are in the exact situation they’ve been in for years going into December – with little room for error and in need of help from other teams to have a chance at the postseason.
For this game in particular, another outright cowardly punt with just over two minutes remaining while down three. Not running Chris Boswell and the field goal unit on the field to try a 64-yard field goal that we all know he can make. In-game decision-making is such a massive weakness of Tomlin, and it rears its ugly head far too often.
Even if the Steelers do get into the playoffs, though, is anyone going to be super excited if they are the No. 6 or No. 7 seed again? It’s all just very frustrating because, regardless of what side of the Tomlin aisle you fall on, we all agree that no real changes will be made, no matter what the results of this season will be. All coaches will return, all assistants will return, and Tomlin will still have the safest seat in all of sports despite doing nothing over the last decade to earn it.
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