In week three the Pittsburgh Steelers turned in another lackluster road performance. This time it resulted in a 23-17 overtime loss against the previously winless Chicago Bears. The Steelers always seem to have a baffling road loss against a less talented opponent under head coach Mike Tomlin. Last season it was a 34-3 thrashing at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles that started a four-game losing streak. Hopefully the 2017 Steelers can get on track and quickly. Looking around the league teams with much lower expectations and much less talent are putting up points in bunches. In contrast, the Steelers have still yet to break 30 points with almost a fourth of the season over, providing these gut reaction.
Pittsburgh Steelers Gut Reactions Week Three
Bell-y Ache
Week three was the game to get Le’Veon Bell on track. He was facing a lackluster defense, a winless team, and although his line has been banged up and honestly played poorly thus far, there was no reason to think that the Steelers couldn’t dominate the Bears defense at the point of attack. Of course, the Steelers trailing early didn’t help Bell’s touch count, but 15 rushes for 61 yards is another red flag for the running game. Although he did score a touchdown, and added 37 receiving yards on six receptions he’s been far from dominant. A lot of players face this hold-out hangover, sometimes it’s season long. Bell needs to shake it quickly if the Steelers are going to make a post season run.
Ben Not Being Ben
Ben Roethlisberger, did not look like a pro bowl quarterback today by any means. He failed to pass for 250 yards with receivers like Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant flanking him. Three more sacks and a fumble didn’t help Roethlisberger’s case. He finished the game with a quarterback rating of 26. The only two players that caught more than half of their targets today were Bell and Brown. This offense and Roethlisberger seem to run hot and cold too often instead of simply executing a game plan. With Bell currently underachieving, even more pressure seems to be on Roethlisberger to perform. As talented as the receiver corps is, they can’t make plays without Roethlisberger wheeling and dealing.
Another Day at the Office
As off as Roethlisberger may have been, the Bears showed no semblance of being able to contain Brown, who finished with 10 receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. He was one catch short of having half of Roethlisberger’s total completions. When an offense is struggling as much as the Steelers have been, the team needs to feed the hot hand. Brown should have had 20 receptions or 30 receptions, or however many were needed for the Steelers to come away from week three with a win.
Special Special Teams
A major turning point in the Steelers loss against the Bears was Chris Boswell’s blocked field goal attempt. If the attempt hadn’t been blocked the Steelers could have won the day. Later, if Vance McDonald wouldn’t have caused a touchback the game would have never made it into overtime. Upon review the snap and hold looked solid, it was just a fundamental blocking mistake that resulted in the blocked field goal. Boswell, one of the most consistent kickers in the league, has kept the Steelers in games through the first three weeks of the season by making the most of his attempts. With the offense sputtering, special teams need to be like Boswell, the epitome of persistence.
Pass Un-happy Bears
In a pass-happy league this was one of the few games the Steelers secondary won’t be called into question. Due to the Bear’s issues at quarterback, Mike Glennon basically rendered their passing game inert. Glennon had one interception, only threw for 101 yards and his quarterback rating was 19.6. His poor performance helped the Steelers pitch a second half shut out. But he did walk out of week three with a win. That speaks volume about the play of the Steelers as a team and a coaching staff through week three.
Rushing towards problems
A combination of timely plays and a lackluster passing game allowed the Steelers to climb back into the game in the second half. But don’t let the hype play a fool. The defense had no answer for the Bears rushing attack. Spear headed by Jordan Howard‘s 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and supplemented by Tarik Cohen’s big play ability, the Bears piled up 220 rushing yards. They literally rushed right down the field in overtime to put an end to the game and the Steelers two game winning streak. The Steelers have allowed three backs over six yards per carry in two weeks. Last week it was the Minnesota Vikings Dalvin Cook, this week, both Howard and Cohen accomplished the task. This is something the Steelers need to examine closely because once again, the team has the talent to stop the run.
Last Word
Nothing is more frustrating than watching a talented team underachieve and that has been the name of the game for the 2017 Pittsburgh Steelers. It feels like the team is still in pre-season mode. Two of the most telling stats about an offenses production are its red zone and third down conversion rate. Neither are very impressive under Todd Haley as offensive coordinator this season. He was brought in to prolong Roethlisberger’s career, but now that plan seems to be defunct as well.
Roethlisberger was sacked three times today. Haley won’t be fired mid-season but the offensive play calling needs to go through a renovation. There are a lot of weapons to choose from and the coaching staff needs to figure out how to administer them.
The defense, while stocked with talent is still labeled a “work in progress” compared to the offense and gets somewhat of a pass. The Steelers have won Super Bowls with vulnerable passing defenses. As long as they can pressure the quarterback, stop the run and avoid Tom Brady. But seeing the run defense in shambles over the past two weeks is alarming. If there’s one thing the Steelers organization knows it’s defensive football. Hopefully the team can bounce back next week when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens for first place in the AFC North.
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