The Steelers had a chance to win the AFC North on Sunday. Instead, they fell to the 3-12 Cleveland Browns in an ugly game that killed any momentum from Pittsburgh’s previous winning streak. As always,
there are plenty of takeaways to be had.
1. If you can’t beat the Browns, you probably don’t deserve the playoffs
After the Steelers beat the Detroit Lions in Week 16, talking about the playoffs became more of a “when” conversation than an “if.” And while nothing is guaranteed in the NFL, it’s true that Pittsburgh’s postseason chances were essentially gift-wrapped: even with a Ravens loss on Saturday, only the 3-12 Browns stood in the way to a stress-free Week 18.
Instead, the Steeler defense sleepwalked through the first quarter of Sunday’s game, and the offense sleepwalked through the rest, resulting in a six-point performance and perhaps the team’s worst loss this season in a year that’s had a few contenders.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin got plenty of criticism postgame for commenting that he didn’t necessarily believe his team played poorly, but he’s not completely wrong. Pittsburgh actually won the total yards battle. The defense, outside of the first quarter, was fantastic — at the end of the day, if you only give up 13 points, you should win comfortably in the NFL.
Was it a sloppy game? Absolutely. But somehow, we’ve seen worse this season.
More than play-to-play incompetence, Pittsburgh repeatedly failed in the moments that separate the good teams from the not-so-good ones. And that tends to be the separator in a competitive NFL.
Think of all the potential game-changing moments that could’ve flipped the final score in the Steelers’ favor: an incomplete go ball on a red zone fourth-and-one (a Scotty Miller versus Tyson Campbell one-on-one??), a puzzling run call and eventual punt on a midfield third-and-four, Nick Herbig’s dropped pick six, Kyle Dugger allowing a touchdown on what should’ve been an interception, and countless miscommunications between Aaron Rodgers and his wide receivers.
There was also some puzzling game management from Tomlin.
The Browns defense is no joke. But the Titans still scored 31 points on them three weeks ago. The Steelers had multiple opportunities to win and just couldn’t get it done.
Aaron Rodgers had a rough game on the decision-making and pocket management side of things, but ultimately the blame for the loss falls mostly on the Pittsburgh coaching staff. How did the team come out the gate looking this flat in a divisional game with a playoff spot on the line? How were they unable to outscore a struggling 3-12 rival with a rookie quarterback?
Sunday’s performance unravels most of the goodwill Pittsburgh built over its three-game winning streak entering Week 17. The team we saw collapse against the Bills in Week 13 hadn’t disappeared completely.
Given the volatile nature of the season so far, I won’t make any rash predictions regarding what happens next. Maybe Pittsburgh does enough to defeat Baltimore in Week 18! But although this Steelers team has been more fun and interesting than past iterations, the same critical problems from prior seasons are still absolutely there.
This isn’t the team that will finally get the franchise over the playoff hump — and if that’s the case, it still stands that Pittsburgh needs to make some dramatic coaching changes in the upcoming offseason. If they couldn’t win this game, it’s hard to argue in favor of most of the factors that contributed to the loss.
2. Live by the castoffs, die by the castoffs
Pittsburgh’s “castoffs” narrative — as dubbed by Aaron Rodgers — has been an important one this season, with multiple midseason signings or roster afterthoughts turning into key players over the course of the year.
It’s been fun to watch and something to celebrate for the most part, but it’s also been the symptom of the Steelers’ roster-building “Plan A” falling apart and being saved by last-minute band-aids. As it turns out, that can have negative effects down the road.
For instance, safety Kyle Dugger was acquired in October via trade and became an immediate starter following DeShon Elliott’s knee injury and Juan Thornhill’s poor play and eventual release. Dugger recorded an interception on Sunday, but he also allowed what would turn out to be a backbreaking touchdown when he misplayed a floating throw from Shedeur Sanders that at the very least should’ve been broken up, or even intercepted.
Safety Chuck Clark, a preseason depth addition who’s also been thrust into a starting role, had an even worse day against the Browns.
More egregious was the Steelers’ “D.K. Metcalf or bust plan” at wide receiver entering the year, that predictably failed the moment the star wide receiver was out of the lineup.
Late signings Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdes-Scantling have largely been positive additions to the team, but predictably, they couldn’t move the needle as a WR1 or 2. Against a top-ranked Browns passing defense, the 35-year-old Thielen couldn’t separate. And Valdes-Scantling, who was added to the active roster in mid December, looked completely out of sync with his quarterback.
The Metcalf suspension could turn out to be what costs the Steelers a playoff spot. Blame the NFL for the punishment or Metcalf for confronting a fan mid-game last week, but the fact this offense wasn’t built to survive losing him is the even bigger problem.
As it turns out, having a lack of high-end players does hurt you in the NFL. To be fair to the Steelers, some of the reliance on “castoffs” has been the result of bad injury luck (offensive line, cornerback) as it has poor roster construction (wide receiver).
But at the same time, look at how someone such as tight end Pat Freiermuth, who made plays whenever he was targeted, was an afterthought on offense for most of the game. The Steelers’ personnel options weren’t great, but offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers’ decisions, which over-targeted players such as Jonnu Smith and Valdes-Scantling and repeatedly moved away from an effective run game, didn’t make things any easier.
3. Odds and ends
- The idea that the Steelers played worse than usual on offense because they were afraid of giving the sack record to Myles Garrett is a little silly but I don’t blame those who got that idea from watching the game. Ultimately, Pittsburgh was wise to commit to shutting down the most dangerous defender in the NFL right now. That would be the strategy if the sack record was on the line or not. But Rodgers did look more skittish in the pocket than he has in recent weeks, which certainly played a role in the team’s passing game struggling. However, I’d argue that has more to do with the gravity of the game’s great pass rushers than the Steelers prioritizing a statistic over actually winning.
- Alex Highsmith is playing elite football right now. He had three tackles, two sacks, and four quarterback hits against Cleveland, also drawing two flags, creating the Jack Sawyer interception, and blowing up a screen pass. He’s playing at the highest level we’ve seen from any of Pittsburgh’s top three outside linebackers this year, and that could be something to take into account when the team has to make a Watt/Herbig/Highsmith decision sometime in the future.
- Scotty Miller isn’t exactly WR2 material, but he remains a great WR4-5 type to have around when the depth gets thin. He was somehow the Steelers’ best receiver with 25 receiving yards on Sunday, and even added a clutch 25-yard punt return.
- This was not a good Arthur Smith game by any means, but his innovations with the tush push remain a highlight. The third-down fake into an option run with Connor Heyward was a fantastic play call. Smith’s short-yardage wrinkles have been a treat this year, and frankly, Pittsburgh should’ve used the package far more on Sunday.
- Linebacker Devin Bush tied for the Browns’ lead in total tackles with nine on Sunday, adding a forced fumble and a tackle for loss. It’s flown under the radar, but the former first-round bust for Pittsburgh has put together a solid career resurgence in Cleveland.
- With misses in back to back weeks, the usually reliable Chris Boswell has looked uncharacteristically shaky lately. Still, his first field goal, a 44-yarder that snaked through the uprights after an extremely late hold, was about as impressive as it gets. I wouldn’t freak out about his slump just yet.
- Punter Corliss Waitman, on the other hand, has officially become a worry. He continues to have distance issues in the weather, which, given the AFC North setting, is a major flaw in his game.
- Cameron Heyward (who has been playing fantastically lately) had a roughing the passer penalty in the third quarter that was widely criticized. I’m not sure if it was a bad call given the letter of the law and what we’ve seen throughout the season. But is it an impossible expectation for defenders? Absolutely, and I hope the rule gets reworked this offseason.
- As Tony Romo put it on the broadcast, Aaron Rodgers has the best facial expression cutaways in the entire NFL. A good or interesting play? An endearing grin. A bad play? Read his lips and it’s an exasperated look with combinations of profanity never uttered before. It always cracks me up.
- Speaking of the broadcast, the repeated mentions of Garrett inching closer to the sack record got old fast. To be fair, I’m sure it was annoying as well when T.J. Watt tied the record in 2021, and I remember being infuriated back when college football broadcasts would cut to Aaron Judge at-bats when he chased the home run record in 2022. As crucial as they are to the mythology of sports, records can sure be bad TV.
Pittsburgh will next take to the field for Sunday Night Football of Week 18 in a win-or-go-home game against the Baltimore Ravens.
What are your takeaways from Steelers vs. Browns? Agree/disagree with the ones above? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!
