The 2019 season was full of ups and downs for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They dealt with injuries, a quarterback carousel, and overall poor offensive play all season long. Thinking back on some of their worst plays of the season, there are a few that come to mind immediately. Whether they were game-costing, embarrassing, or just all-around bad, here are some of the worst Pittsburgh Steelers plays of the 2019 season, in no particular order.
Pittsburgh Steelers Worst Plays of 2019
Welcome to the Steelers, Minkah!
In his first game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Minkah Fitzpatrick made an impact right away. On the road against the San Francisco 49ers, Fitzpatrick recorded an interception on just his third drive with the team. The very next drive, Fitzpatrick forced a fumble that saved the team at least three points, maybe seven. As good as he was in that game, the interception or forced fumble won’t be remembered the way a certain missed tackle is. Kyle Juszczyk caught a pass from Jimmy Garoppolo and broke a tackle attempt of Fitzpatrick’s. But Juszcyzk didn’t just break the tackle, he threw Fitzpatrick to the ground like he was a JV player. The play wasn’t detrimental, as all it really cost the Steelers was a few extra yards. But it definitely had Fitzpatrick on the wrong end of a highlight play, not something you could say much about his 2019 campaign.
An Interception Thrown by the Running Back?
After successfully running the wildcat against a terrible Cincinnati Bengals defense, Randy Fichtner thought the Pittsburgh Steelers could use that wrinkle of their offense consistently. The problem? After that game with the Bengals, the Baltimore Ravens came to town. Needless to say, Baltimore’s defense way substantially better than Cincinnati’s. Most notably, the Ravens had speed on defense. The wildcat won’t be near as successful against a fast defense. Pittsburgh found this out the hard way. On a drive that started at their own 12, the Steelers came out in the wildcat. Running back Jaylen Samuels took the snap, rolled to his right, and threw a pass… directly to the other team. A few plays later, the Ravens would score thanks to the short field and go up 10-0 in a game that ultimately went to overtime. Not only was it ugly, but this boneheaded play call might have cost the Steelers a win.
Two Detrimental Fumbles
If that wildcat play didn’t cost the Steelers a win over Baltimore, JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s fumble in overtime might have. The Steelers somehow made it to overtime with Devlin Hodges under center. After electing to kick off to start overtime, Pittsburgh forced a punt and only needed a field goal to win the game. On their second play, Smith-Schuster and Hodges connected on a short pass. After a ten yard gain, Smith-Schuster was stripped on a great play by Marlon Humphrey. Three plays later, Justin Tucker nailed a walkoff 46-yard field goal. There’s no guarantee the Steelers would have ended their drive with a field goal, but the fumble was arguably the single biggest miscue of the entire season.
The other costly fumble came in that game with the 49ers. After a San Francisco turnover with under seven minutes to go, Pittsburgh took over at their own 14, up 20-17. After two runs gained them a first down, they ran the ball again. James Conner unfortunately had the ball stripped and the 49ers recovered the fumble. They capitalized on the good field position, and ran the clock almost all the way out before scoring the game winning touchdown. Yep, the Pittsburgh Steelers and their rag tag offense were potentially two fumbles away from beating the eventual top seed in each conference.
Find the Ball, Edmunds!
Terrell Edmunds isn’t as bad as many fans make him out to be. He was the worst starter on the defense last year, but with a defense that good, someone has to be the worst. Edmunds is an average player with good athleticism and physical traits. He is not good in coverage though, which is why he gets a lot of heat from Steelers nation. His ball skills are very poor, as he has just one career interception in 31 starts. An example of his nonexistent ball skills came in Pittsburgh’s win over the Arizona Cardinals. There isn’t much explaining needed, you just have to see for yourself. This ball needs to be intercepted by a starting NFL safety.
False Start on Everyone but the Center
This is one of those plays that’s just downright embarrassing. In the beatdown that Pittsburgh took in the season opener against the New England Patriots, there were no bright spots for the Steelers. There were dropped passed, blown coverages, and no signs of a competent team. The whole game can almost be summed up with this one play. Former interior lineman B.J. Finney took over for Maurkice Pouncey at center late in the game. On his first play after replacing Pouncey, Finney seemed to be on a different snap count than everyone else on the team. He didn’t snap the ball when everyone else moved, getting the age-old penalty of “false start on everyone but the center.” As if that game with New England wasn’t embarrassing enough, this just added insult to injury.
Gaffes Against the Bills
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills battled in a week 15 showdown with serious wildcard implications. On Sunday Night Football in front of their home crowd, there were two plays that majorly contributed to the loss. Right after the Steelers played their song, “Renegade,” and got the crowd and defense fired up, Josh Allen hit John Brown for a 40 yard strike down the left sideline. One of the worst deep passers in the league dropped a dime on one of the best defense’s in the league with the crowd roaring. This one really took the air out of Heinz Field. Six plays later, Buffalo would score and go up 17-10, which ended up being the final score.
Earlier in the game, Pittsburgh had the chance to take the lead going into halftime. Allen threw an interception and the Steelers took over with great field position. Following a penalty, they had the ball at Buffalo’s ten yard line. Then, they came out in that cursed wildcat formation, again against a fast and very good defense. Even worse, James Conner was the one taking the snap. This was his first game back after missing three weeks for a shoulder injury. On top of that, Conner wasn’t usually the running back the team used when they ran the wildcat, so he didn’t have any experience in that situation. Naturally, the handoff with Diontae Johnson was muffed and the Bills recovered the fumble. That was a guaranteed three points for Pittsburgh, maybe seven, given away by another bad play call.
Mark Barron, You Got Moss’d!
For every complaint Steelers nation has about Edmunds, they probably had a similar complaint about Mark Barron. He was brought on as a coverage linebacker, an addition the team desperately needed last offseason. For a large part of the year, it seemed like Barron forgot to bring his coverage skills with him. A perfect example is Pittsburgh’s week 11 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Late in the game, Baker Mayfield practically threw the ball to Barron in the end zone. An interception would’ve gave the Steelers one more chance to tie the game. Instead, as usual, Barron didn’t find the ball. Cleveland’s rookie tight end Stephen Carlson Moss’d Barron and scored the game clinching touchdown.
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