The long awaited debut of Kenny Pickett was foiled by costly mistakes and a sagging fourth quarter defense, leading to another Steeler loss as they blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead. The inability to make any kind of adjustments and execute derailed the game.
Every unit has had ups and downs this season and this game was defined by that. The offense got the much-anticipated Kenny Pickett sighting they had been waiting for and he nearly pulled off some magic. He sparked the offense but two very big turnovers and one meaningless one, defined the day. Pickett finished 10-13 for 120 Yards with two rushing touchdowns and three interceptions. Trubisky was 7/13 for 84 yards before he was pulled out of the game.
The offensive line finally created running room for Najee Harris, they had 119 yards on the ground with Harris accounting for 74 of them. The pass protection was suspect though, and they had a hard time in pass protection against the Jets’ edge rushers. The interior line also accounted for two costly penalties that derailed two first half drives.
George Pickens was a bright spot; he was second on the team with six catches and had the first 100+ yard game of his career. Pat Freiermuth led the team with seven catches, but his failure to pull in an errant Kenny Pickett throw was the backbreaker towards the end of the game. Diontae Johnson was quiet most of the game.
The defense played well for the majority of the game, but once again faded down the stretch. The run defense held New York to under 100 yards but faltered late as the Jets’ put together two very big drives to capture the win. The pass rush has all but disappeared without T.J. Watt. Despite playing against a patchwork banged up line, the Steelers recorded only one sack. Alex Highsmith had the sack and should have had two more, but he was unable to wrap Zach Wilson. Despite playing against a fourth string offensive tackle, Malik Reed was nearly shutout and has been a disappointment, generating little to no pressure.
The defensive line is solid but needs someone else to step up. Cam Heyward gets doubled and tripled team most of the game now and it is frustrating at how they are unable to make anything out of that.
The secondary failed to make any adjustments and were torched over the middle by Corey Davis. Cam Sutton and Minkah Fitzpatrick both chipped in with interceptions but losing Terrell Edmunds late in the game proved costly as the Steelers couldn’t get off the field on third down.
The special teams are the same thing every week. You can reread the previous two weeks and it will seem eerily familiar. Chris Boswell is outstanding and had a monster day with a historic field goal; a 59-yarder, the longest in the Stadium’s history. But Pressley Harvin III once again struggled and average only 39.5 yards per punt. The Gunner Olszewski era will be over soon as Calvin Austin III is back or someone else steps up. Olszewski fumbled for the second week in a row and made another bonehead play that cost the Steelers 10 yards in field position. He was called out specifically by Mike Tomlin during his weekly press conference.
The Coaching was awful yet again. The offensive game plan was unimaginative and far too conservative, as it has been in the Canada era. As for the defense, how do the Steelers consistently get torched over the middle, especially against a very beatable New York Jets offense. Mike Tomlin needs someone else to decide when to challenge and when not to, he lost yet another challenge that cost the Steelers and important first down. Not sure how they bungled the time again at the end of the first half. The only upside was the Jets’ had a roughing call that setup the Boswell boot.
This team has so much potential, but they make so many costly mistakes and fail to execute when they need to make plays. The schedule only gets harder from here.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Has to be Kenny Pickett, yes, he made mistakes, yes, I was against this, especially this early in the year, but the difference in the game’s energy was palpable and one thing that was certain, the moment didn’t look to big for him. Also considered; Chris Boswell who bombed a 59-Yard Field Goal to end the first half, the longest kick in the history of Acrisure/Heinz Field history. Minkah Fitzpatrick, who grabbed his third interception of the season.
Beer of the Game: Since it is Hispanic heritage month, I went with Modello, KGB went Corona, and Dante did A&W Root Beer.
“Steel the Snacks”: We are native New Yorkers, this was our easiest, but one of our best weeks, we did Knishes and Pastrami sandwiches with Provolone, with spicy New York mustard! It was a great job by KGB, one thing of note, the snacks didn’t bring their usual good luck.
My Stat of the week: The Steelers now lead the league in most three and outs with 12 after Sunday’s embarrassing loss. For the second year in a row the Steelers fall to 1-3 to start the year. On a positive note, Chris Boswell booted the longest field goal in the stadiums history and Kenny Pickett is the first NFL quarterback in the modern era to rush for two touchdowns in his debut.
My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers head up to Buffalo against arguably the best team in the AFC. The Steelers won their matchup last year. It will be interesting to see what Kenny Pickett does with a full game of football. One thing, this team can win if they execute, the question is will they?