The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
by Zachjojojones | 3 years ago | 0 Comments
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, A Factory of Sadness
If you were to say the 2022 season has been a let-down for the Steelers, you would be accurate. To make it even worse, the team has shown flashes of brilliance. Which begs the question, why can’t this team win consistently? The answer may be obvious to some, and to others it is not. First let’s dive into what is going right for Pittsburgh.
The Good
The Pittsburgh Steelers have an undisputed best player on their roster. His name is Minkah Fitzpatrick. Who the Steelers locked up for the next 4 season due to his incredible play over the last 2 seasons. The free safety finished the 2021 campaign with 9 interceptions which is an incredible year alone. However, he has followed up with 13 interceptions in 10 games so far this season, returning 5 of them for touchdowns. Not only is he making a case for DB of the year, but he has also thrown his hat in the ring for DPOY. His 5 defensive touchdowns are as many as any Steelers WR this season. With that being said the Steelers have a much more lethal passing attack than last year’s squad. After moving on from Chase Claypool in the offseason, AJ Brown and Diontae Johnson have shown flashes of becoming a lethal WR duo. Throwing Dede Westbrook and Trey Burton into the arsenal has proven to be effective. However, none of that works without Najee Harris’s ability to run the ball. Ranking 2nd in league rushing heading into their week 11 bye, the sophomore running back has followed up his impressive 2021 season where he totalled 2370 yards and 19 touchdowns, with 1506 yards and 12 touchdowns in only 10 games so far. That’s right about where the good things end for Pittsburgh
The Bad
Someway, somehow, the Steelers have absolutely no pass rush. Even with the likes of TJ Watt and Cam Heyward on the squad. They generate nothing. While the db’s have held their own (apart from giving up 60 points to the Patriots) The pass rush has been a major letdown. If things don’t turn around I n the bottom half of the season, look for a major shake up to the defensive line in this upcoming offseason with the Steelers possessing 2 first round picks. Adding onto the bad, we need to discuss Carson Wentz. While he could’ve been placed in the “ugly” section of the article, this isn’t totally on him. Mostly because he wasn’t supposed to be the long term solution for this team, more so just a band aid until they find the “Qb of the future” like several other franchises have done. Wentz has completed 64.3% of his passes through 10 games which is above average for SFL quarterbacks. Even his interceptions are down by over half of what he had last season (58) to only 14 thus far, which again, in SFL terms really isn’t too bad. However with only 16 passing td’s it’s clear he has put a crutch on the offense. His most glaring stat is that he’s been sacked 45 times in 10 games. Compared to 39 all of last season, but more on that in the ugly section.
The Ugly
While you could point to many “ugly” things about the Steelers there are two obvious ones for me. The inconsistency from the three phases of the game, and the offensive line. We will discuss the former first. Only once this season have the Steelers been good on both sides of the ball. That was in week 7 versus the (at the time) 5-1 Saints. That game saw Najee Harris Rush for over 200 yards and 2 tds, and the offence only turned the ball over once. While the defense forced 5 interceptions along with a fumble recovery. Holding the Saints offense to only 7 points. Apart from that the inconsistency has been glaringly obvious. i.e- 60-50 loss to New England, 54-43 Loss to Cincinnati, 24-13 loss to Baltimore. Looking ahead to next season, they need to find a way to put together a full 60 minutes on both sides of the ball more consistently if they want to find any sort of success in this league. Now for the offensive line. Before the season started the Steelers sort of knew they were doomed. Starting two rookie lineman (one out of position) they knew they’d have to be patient and hope they got better with every game they played. Well, that has not been the case. Giving up 45 sacks in 10 games is disastrous. While they boast the league’s top running game (yrds/gm) it makes you wonder how much of the credit goes to Najee Harris compared to the line. Again, the Steelers possess some draft capital and may be looking to add more. One would think reinforcements are on the way.
