Things did not go the way they were supposed to go Sunday in the season opener for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the San Francisco 49ers at Acrisure Stadium — in all three phases.
That’s an understatement.
The Steelers got their teeth kicked in all day long and had no answers for the 49ers, leading to the deflating, frustrating 30-7 loss on the North Shore.
Though things did not go their way — at all — in the loss, the Steelers have the right veterans in place to help flush the frustrating loss and get ready for a Monday Night Football matchup with the Cleveland Browns. While he put a target on his back and was burned for two touchdowns Sunday, veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson is one of those key leaders.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Peterson said that the Steelers can’t panic after one week.
“Just didn’t play our best ball, didn’t execute our assignments. Just gotta be better next time, you know?” Peterson said to reporters following the loss, according to video via Steelers.com. “That’s the reason why we have film, and we can’t hit the panic button just yet; it’s just Week One. So we know the things that we have to clean up on the defensive side of the ball and hopefully we will be better next out.”
Pittsburgh definitely didn’t play its best ball in all three phases.
The offense never got going as second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett struggled with accuracy and decision making, the run game was never given a chance to find a rhythm, and a rebuilt offensive line struggled to protect Pickett throughout the day. Defensively, Pittsburgh couldn’t win the weighty downs and get off the field, missed key tackles that led to significant splash and really had no answer for Brandon Aiyuk in the passing game.
But, as Peterson notes, it’s just Week One. This is no time to panic. It’s a long season.
Things didn’t go the way the Steelers were hoping for. Sometimes that happens. They still believe in their scheme and their overall talent. It comes down to execution. The Steelers left a lot of plays on the field on Sunday — on both sides of the football. They’ll get into the film room and figure out what went right and what went wrong. They’ll work on correcting those issues for the Week Two marquee matchup against the visiting Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football.
The hope is that they’ll be better after this disastrous loss. They better be with AFC North play kicking off in Week Two.
Fortunately for the Steelers, they have the leadership in place to help flush the loss from Sunday, learn from it and move on to prepare for Cleveland. Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett stated after the loss that the Steelers will lean on those veteran leaders in the days ahead to help course correct and great ready for Week Two, especially after dealing with adversity for the first time this season.
“I think we have great veterans and myself, I’m gonna lead the guys the same way I always know how to,” Pickett told reporters after the loss, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “So, we’re gonna put this behind us. We gotta learn from the miscues. Put our best foot forward next week.”
