A combination of bad defense, sloppy offense, and a hint of let down all amounted to the Steelers getting blown out by the Eagles 34-3 on Sunday. As promising as the first two weeks looked, this week was a complete turn around. The defeat marks Pittsburgh’s tenth straight loss in Philadelphia in a definite let down game after a big win the week before against Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh Steelers Dominated in Philadelphia
Normally good against rookie quarterbacks, the Steelers defense looked confused against Carson Wentz. Philadelphia’s misdirection wore out the Steelers defense early on. Many different looks kept the Steelers defense off guard. Carson Wentz threw for 301 yards and completed 74% of his passes. More impressive was Wentz’s ability to diversify his targets. Wentz hit seven targets, each seeing the ball more than once. The rookie’s ability to spread the ball around kept the Steelers secondary on their toes. The inability of the secondary to adjust to the short routes allowed Philadelphia’s offense to move efficiently and effectively.
On offense, not much more could be said. The run game that had set up the pass in the past two weeks was non-existent. The Steelers picked up just 29 yards on ten carries. This only hurt the pass game. Without a steady running attack to keep the defense off guard, Ben Roethlisberger had to rely heavily on his top receiver Antonio Brown. Brown returned to normal form with 140 yards, but on a concerning 18 targets, compared to the rest of the team’s 26.
In addition to the imbalance, the offensive line was unable to keep Ben out of harm’s way. On multiple occasions Ben was forced to scramble, resulting in off target throws and a 55% completion percentage. Ben was also hit eight times, four of which were sacks.
This was not a fun game to watch or write about. A few things need to happen to prevent a repeat next week against the Chiefs. First, the offense needs to get back into balance. It starts up front, the offensive line needs to open holes for the running game and keep Big Ben off the ground. On defense, there needs to be flexibility and adaptability. The slew of injuries need to recover, and a collective effort needs to be made to limit the passing attack. This needs to happen for Pittsburgh to bounce back from the socking they received Sunday.
