The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-10, Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. It was a game of missed opportunity, unfortunate injury and a confluence of over officiating.
It is becoming a repetitive theme week in and week out, the offense does “enough” and the defense makes a couple of big plays to save the game. That was the formula yesterday but despite three turnovers the offense did next to nothing, and the defense had no more magic tricks in the bag to pull out a victory against Jacksonville.
The Steelers were without starting quarterback Kenny Pickett for most of the game after he suffered a hard hit in the second quarter. Pickett had an awful day, he was inaccurate and off with several miscues, including missing a wide-open Diontae Johnson in the end zone and fumbling out of bounds on the last drive of the first half. He was clobbered at the end of the first half to help parlay a rare and bizarre sequence of events. Pickett finished 10 of 16 for 73 yards. Backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky struggled in his absence, completing just 15 of 27 passes for 138 yards and an interception that sealed the defeat
What can you say about the offense anymore? There was no running room at all, Najee Harris rushed only seven times for 13 yards, Jaylen Warren had only five rushes for 19 yards and only 70 yards on the day.
Diontae Johnson had eight catches and recovered from an injury. George Pickens had only catch and it was the only touchdown of the day. Allen Robinson was a non-factor. The weapons are there but they just can’t seem to deploy them in any sort of competent game plan.
The defense was without Minkah Fitzpatrick and his absence was felt on the game sealing drive of the Jaguars, a 56-yard touchdown pass to Travis Etienne, that Joey Porter Jr. and Damontae Kazee seemed to miscommunicate on.
T.J Watt had a half sack with Alex Highsmith. Cole Holcomb had a big game with 11 tackles. Elandon Roberts had five tackles and 1.5 sacks. Nick Herbig forced a fumble. The front made half time adjustments and were able to slow the Jaguars running game down.
The special teams were a disaster again. Pressley Harvin had his worse game of the season, highlighted by a lame duck that went 29 yards and set the Jaguars up for their first touchdown. Chris Boswell was 1-2 on field goals after a ridiculous offsides call. It was a forgettable day all around.
The refs were way to involved and they had a direct effect on the outcome of the game. They called Keanu Neal for roughing passer it was questionable at best, then clearly missed the Jaguars roughing the passer on Adam Gotsis, that was after the whistle and Kenny Pickett was actually injured. The worst by far though was an offsides penalty on a 55-yard field goal that Bos absolutely drilled, the Steelers were backed up five yards and Bos missed the 61-yarder. The refs clearly missed the call and then replays showed the Jaguars were actually offsides. It was a terrible turn of events in a bizarre ending of the first half.
It is a quick turn around and a turn the page game.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Cole Holcomb who led the team in tackles and had a fumble recovery that kept the Steelers in the game. He could be a fan favorite with his style of play. Also Considered: Nick Herbig had a forced fumble and looks like a great teammate to have.
Beer of the Game: We stuck with the pumpkin theme and had Long Ireland Pumpkin. It is a Long Island beer that delivers! KGB did the maple sugar rim on the class.
“Steel the Snacks”: Deserved a better fate this week, usually the snacks are a harbinger of good things, it did not work out that way this week. KGB made Duval Surfwiches, which are like a cross between a Cheese Steak and a Sloppy Joe. They were phenomenal and were accompanied by all varieties of Heinz Ketchup.
My Stat of the week: The Jaguars have been a thorn in the Steelers side since they first entered the league as an expansion team. Yesterday was the Jags third straight win in Pittsburgh including the embarrassing loss in the playoffs in 2018.
My Thoughts on next week: As in three days, the Steelers host the Titans (who wore Oilers jersey’s yesterday) and will need to do a much better job getting the offense started to have any chance. It will be interesting to see if Kenny Pickett will get back in there this week on a short week.
Jersey of the Week: In honor of his induction to the Hall of Honor with the Steelers, James Harrison #92 the color rush. One of our favorite Steelers of all-time took his rightful place in the Steelers Hall of Honor alongside the most underrated Steeler ever in Aaron Smith, they were joined by offensive linemen “Moon” Mullins and the “Ranger” Ray Mansfield.