The Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves in a back-and-forth contest between the Green Bay Packers in Week 10. Despite making numerous mistakes and allowing the game to go down to the wire, the Steelers did prevail. The team notched a 23-19 win in Week 10 to move their 2023 season record to 6-3. Pittsburgh has some obvious holes, but still find themselves with a winning record. The Steelers have several pressing issues on both sides of the ball which include poor execution and injuries. But as they enter a critical stretch of the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers will need to make some changes as they make a potential playoff push.
These Six Issues Are Plaguing The Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers have had problems in every game this year but still sit at an astonishing 6-3 record. Pittsburgh has yet to establish a complete game where both sides of the ball, or all units, play well. There is almost always a problem with the offense when the defense plays well, and vice versa when the offense actually plays well. Things just haven’t been clicking in an overall sense, but doing just enough on both sides of the ball has the Steelers at 6-3 through ten weeks. There are six big issues, three on offense and three on defense, that will either make or break the Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 season.
The Six Big Issues
Kenny Pickett is Starting To Show True Colors
Two things can be true: Kenny Pickett might be clutch, but he’s also struggling significantly as the Steelers QB. Pickett is a winner and often does just enough to get Pittsburgh the win, even if it isn’t much. He’s led them to a 6-3 start this year and he is 10-1 in his career when he starts and finishes a game! But he isn’t making the easy throws and has seemingly regressed from last year. Pickett’s yet to show much development despite being expected to make the coveted year two jump. Sunday’s Week 10 game was no different, as Pickett struggled to hit on several open throws. Even though he isn’t quickly rushed by the defense, Pickett still seems rushed mentally. He simply commits to one or two looks when other receivers might be open on a different part of the field.
The Steelers will need Pickett to step up big-time if they want to succeed this season. He isn’t in the best situation (see two issues below) but he also isn’t helping his case at all. 126 passing yards just isn’t going to cut it for a team that needs their quarterback to be a leader to win and dominate critical games. I am one of the biggest Kenny Pickett fans/supporters and I really do want him to succeed. But seeing his play week-to-week simply takes a lot of faith away from every fan and he just isn’t trending in the right direction.
Matt Canada Still An Issue, But Getting Better
Many fans were rightfully calling for the firing of Matt Canada earlier in the year. The offense was, and still is, setting record-low marks. Canada should not be the offensive coordinator after this season, but it is not the Steeler way to just give up on a coordinator mid-season. With all of the negative chatter surrounding him, he has seemingly stepped up his game in the last few weeks to create a better and more communication-based game plan. Pickett’s passing chart just about every week seemingly shows that he avoids the middle of the field. A lot of this is on him not finding those throws and making the right reads. But, Canada has to scheme better to use the middle of the field more in order to make it easier on his quarterback.
Offensive Line Better as of Late, But Still Not Convincing
The offensive line has looked like a brand-new unit after Broderick Jones was named a starter two weeks ago. The duo of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren combined for 183 yards and two touchdowns against the Packers and had 157 yards together just a week prior. This offensive line is really starting to come together and allow the Steelers’ two very competent running backs to succeed. The pass protection has also gotten better, but there are still some issues that make the offensive line far from perfect. The unit has made a big jump, but I’m still not fully convinced they are an elite unit for both the run and pass just yet.
Linebacking Core in Trouble, Decimated by Season-Ending Injuries
The Steelers have now lost linebackers Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander for the year. Alexander tore his Achilles in Sunday’s Week 10 game and will miss the rest of the season. This group will now have starters Mark Robinson and Elandon Roberts, who are solid but may need some help. The Steelers could look for external help but there isn’t much depth on the free-agent market right now. It is tough that Holcomb and Alexander were actually starting to play very well. But now, the Steelers will have to fill that hole with a few other options that may be downgrades.
Secondary Plagued by Poor Play and One Major Injury
Aside from Joey Porter Jr. and a few other plays at times, the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary is not good. The team’s supposedly top cover corners aside from Porter are Levi Wallace and Patrick Peterson. However, neither has been consistent this year and the safety play hasn’t been much better. Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal have also struggled mightily in coverage and often miss some tackles or opportunities to make a play. The absence of Minkah Fitzpatrick certainly hasn’t helped, and the Steelers definitely need him back at 100% soon.
The secondary allowed completions of 49, 36, 30, 23, and 35 yards in Week 10 against the Packers. Those long passes accounted for 173 of Jordan Love’s 289 yards (59.9%). On just five passes, he accumulated about 60% of his passing yards despite having 21 completions. The secondary busts too often and a lot of the blame can be passed to defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
Defensive Scheme Isn’t Getting The Job Done
I really liked Teryl Austin and his emphasis on high-pressure rates and a bend-but-not-break strategy. Unfortunately, that just doesn’t seem to work a lot of the time as the team starts to face more and more competent offenses. The Steelers do have a phenomenal defensive line with two of the best edge rushers in the game. They also have a succeeding rookie corner and an All-Pro safety struggling with an injury. But the unit is just too leaky in Austin’s zone coverage scheme. It’s starting to get more and more clear that Austin’s scheme isn’t working with the personnel that the Steelers have. Those big plays set up the Packers’ scoring drives, and eliminating just a couple would take points off the board.
Austin’s scheme, as well as the Steelers’ players, need to be evaluated before 2024. The defense simply can’t go on like this and these leaks keep games closer than they should be.
Pittsburgh’s Upcoming Schedule
The Pittsburgh Steelers get two divisional challenges, followed by three very winnable games, to continue their 2023 season. The team travels to both Ohio cities to take on the Browns and Bengals in the next two weeks. These two games are very important and that’s an understatement. Any divisional win would be beneficial to the Steelers who are already 2-0 in the packed and competitive AFC North this year. Even if they can steal just one of these games, things look to be brighter on the other side with a much easier three-game stretch. In Weeks 13-15, the team will take on the 2-8 Cardinals and Patriots at home and the 5-5 Colts on the road. All three games are very winnable, but Pittsburgh often plays down to their competition even if they seem to be better.
Overall, the team would benefit greatly from going just 3-2 in these five games. It would set them up to have up to nine wins as the team embarks on their final three difficult games. Fixing these problems or at least doing better in multiple aspects of the game could very well help the Steelers reach ten wins and the playoffs, or beyond!
Main Photo: Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports
