Another Thursday Night Football game in Cleveland. Another loss for the Steelers.
Some things change. Some things don’t. But there are always some takeaways to be had:
1. Old habits die hard
A brand new coaching staff. Fresh momentum following an exciting win over Cincinnati. A Browns team without Myles Garrett and two starting offensive linemen.
You’d think that might be enough to break Pittsburgh’s surprisingly long-running losing streak in Cleveland — but instead, history repeated on Thursday Night Football. The Steelers
jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but quickly fell apart. The black and gold drew even in a nail-biting fourth quarter, but the optimism was short-lived, with the Pittsburgh defense giving up a game-winning field goal drive orchestrated by Deshaun Watson.
Despite looking like a new, exciting team under Mike McCarthy at points over the summer and even in last week’s win over the Bengals, the bulk of the season has shown the team still looking like the same, old Steelers: familiar highs and and lows, and a number of issues we’ve seen before, from an offense that seems low on talent to a secondary that can’t seem to get a consistent stop.
The good news for Pittsburgh is Cleveland did most of its damage in one quarter — 21 of the Browns’ 27 points came in the second — and the Steelers showed some grit rallying back in the fourth on the road. But the bad was ugly, and the late-game explosion from Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf felt more like a rerun of Ben Roethlisberger’s last gasps at brilliance in 2020 and 2021 than anything resembling an offense that’s finally made the jump to the modern era.
It’s not that the Steelers aren’t expected to lose games. The worrying part is that four games into the season — well after the worst of the preseason rust should’ve worn off — I can’t get a solid read on what this team truly is once again.
2. Aaron Rodgers can’t consistently lead an offense
Some truly incredible throws from Aaron Rodgers saved this game from being one of the worst I’ve ever seen him play, but it was close. And while the veteran passer still seems to uncork a handful of perfect deep passes every few games to throw internet doubters off the scent of his regression (the touchdown pass to Darnell Washington was a thing of beauty), it’s beyond clear that the overall product Thursday night was not what you want from an NFL quarterback.
Sure, Rodgers was sacked five times versus Cleveland and dealt with consistent pressure. As the broadcast almost turned into a broken record repeating, Steelers receivers were not gaining enough separation against the Browns’ man coverage. But Rodgers still shoulders plenty of blame on a number of those sacks and incompletions.
Now 42, Rodgers looks unsettled in the face of pressure. His reactions in the pocket are always a tick or two late, and he repeatedly moves into rushers. And the future Hall of Famer, once praised for unreal accuracy and football IQ, threw several passes into questionable coverage, didn’t always see when receivers were open, and missed high and low.
I don’t doubt that having a player of Rodgers’ vast experience has been a boon to many of the younger players on the Steelers’ roster. But at the same time, having a quarterback with his mobility limitations hasn’t been the best fit for a young offensive line that’s finally showing signs of real progress.
I’m not advocating to bench Rodgers, to be clear. But two things can be true: Rodgers might’ve been the best option the Steelers had at quarterback this year, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t capping the potential of the offense.
3. Defense disappoints, but the sky isn’t falling
Hear it from Cam Heyward. It wasn’t all bad on Thursday for the Steelers defense, but giving up 27 points for a second straight game is not exactly something to hang your hat on.
In fairness to new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, losing Jamel Dean to injury and the now-guaranteed lack of Joey Porter Jr. this season has rookie corner Daylen Everette in the starting lineup at least a year earlier than he should be. While it was tough to see what was supposed to be a strong secondary this year continually lose to a (admittedly good) rookie wide receiver duo, at this point it’s fair to say Pittsburgh just doesn’t have enough talent in the secondary.
Even then, Graham managed to batten the hatches in the second half, forcing a pair each of punts and turnovers (not to gloss over two field goals including the game winner).
Yes, the Browns’ Todd Monken perfectly countered Graham’s blitzes throughout the game, and Pittsburgh’s tackling, which was frankly embarrassing at times, was a poor reflection of its coaching staff. Still, I’m not ready to give up on the Steelers’ new coordinator in his fourth game with the team just yet.
Still, the roster construction of the defense is looking suspect.
The Porter trade is something that the front office clearly wasn’t planning for entering the season. The decision might be defendable depending on what exactly the young cornerback was hoping for contract-wise, but it’s still a tough look when you see the Steelers, who were willing to pay and trade for the-now 31-year-old Jalen Ramsey last year, clearly still in need of a CB1.
Plus, it was clear heading into the summer that the Steelers’ depth at safety was a glaring weak link on the defense well before DeShon Elliott landed on injured reserve. Now it’s even worse, with Jaquan Brisker struggling to make tackles in the open field on Thursday, and Rayshawn Jenkins getting benched for seventh-round rookie Robert Spears-Jennings (also starting far earlier than anticipated), who logged a game of dizzying highs and lows.
I had reasonably high expectations for this defense entering the season. I still do. But if the Steelers continue to be this undermanned on the back end of things, consistent success will be hard to come by.
4. At least DK Metcalf is back, maybe
The Steelers took several steps forward on offense last week, and retraced many of them in the loss to the Browns.
But WR1 DK Metcalf is still on an upward trajectory, at least.
Metcalf recorded by far his best game of the season on Thursday night, with five receptions for 115 yards on a wide variety of plays — a sideline contested catch, a 43-yard post, and a wide receiver screen that went for big yards-after-catch on a third down, to name a few.
Metcalf could’ve garnered an even stronger stat line as well if Rodgers had seen him breaking open during a few key moments later in the game.
A 15-yard taunting penalty in the first quarter showed that the Metcalf of old is still very much there, but after an incredibly rough start to the season overall, the Steelers’ top receiver is finally looking the part. He even heated up in the fourth quarter, with a few of his grabs coming on clutch connections with Rodgers to tie up the game late.
Even when the Steelers offense has looked good in past games this season, it’s been with Metcalf underperforming compared to the role Pittsburgh is paying him to fill. If Thursday’s game can be a sign of things to come, it should greatly add to the Steelers’ underneath passing game as well as Rodgers’ options downfield.
I was similarly encouraged by the play of Roman Wilson on Thursday (three grabs for 74 yards and a touchdown) in what seemed to be one of the first games of his career where he didn’t offset his big plays with some notably bad reps. While the rookie Germie Bernard is still finding his footing in the Pittsburgh passing game, Wilson seems to be the most fluid mover of the team’s receiver corps, and one of the better shots the team has at finding a pass catcher who can reliably beat man coverage this season.
For a game where the Steelers receivers kept being criticized for not getting open, there were still some things to get excited about.
5. Odds and ends
- The blocking from Pat Freiermuth and Michael Pittman Jr. on that Roman Wilson touchdown was a thing of beauty.
- Not that I was surprised, but it was great to see Jaylen Warren turn in another fantastic performance as the bell-cow back on Thursday. I was disappointed at how many stretches of the game there were when he received few touches despite being the most consistent playmaker on offense.
- Mike McCarthy downplayed it in his postgame press conference, but the late sideline communications and play calls were an issue for Pittsburgh yet again. The hot mic moment was more entertaining than worrisome — athletes get heated in big moments, the horror — but the team’s basic process continually running late is concerning.
- Two of the Steelers’ second-half punts ended drives that started on the 50-yard line and the Pittsburgh 43, respectively. The Browns turned the ball over twice and had a whopping 14 penalties for 88 yards. Yes, this Cleveland team is better than most anticipated this season, but this loss falls just as much on missed opportunities from the Steelers.
- Chris Boswell is now 7/10 on the young season, missing a 48-yarder in Cleveland. Is it time to panic? Far from it. But this doesn’t look like the same unflappable, elite Boswell from the past few seasons. Kicker is a highly-mental position, however, making a rebound plenty possible as well.
- Max Iheanachor looked a bit more like a rookie against Cleveland, but Aaron Rodgers’ five sacks don’t all reflect on the offensive line, which looked solid once again and still managed a respectable 4.8-yards per rush. I’m still very optimistic about this group.
- I wouldn’t exactly call Thursday night a great T.J. Watt game, but his instincts at creating splash plays — a sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery and pass defensed versus Cleveland — remain unreal.
- I don’t think any of the Steelers’ coaches will be putting this game on their resumes, but McCarthy’s tipped-ball challenge to keep Robert Spears-Jennings’s interception was a great call by the head coach. I also liked Graham’s recognition late that the Steelers needed heavy blitzes when trying to prevent the Browns’ game-winning field goal drive. It didn’t succeed, but that final sack would’ve been a much bigger deal if Andre Szmyt had missed from 56 yards in the final seconds.
- I noticed a lot of C-gap inserts from the Steelers’ receivers, namely Pittman, on Thursday. That, paired with play action, gave Ben Skowronek a touchdown last week, and is always an interesting wrinkle to see on offenses with receivers willing to block.
- I’m not really sure why the Steelers called a Hail Mary-type play with 10 seconds left and a timeout on the final drive from their own 35 — just down a field goal. The odds to get in scoring position were never in Pittsburgh’s favor, but that felt like an overly-panicky move.
- Derrick Harmon was seen in a boot after being carted off the field on Thursday. Losing him would be a big blow to the defense, especially considering his pass rushing development in recent weeks. Jamel Dean — who the Steelers can’t afford to lose even more — was also seen in a boot.
Fortunately, the Steelers have a mini-bye week ahead of their Week 5 matchup against the Colts on Oct. 11.
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!
