Right away in the season opener Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, the Pittsburgh Steelers looked overmatched against the San Francisco 49ers both physically and schematically.
The Steelers got beat up in the trenches, were outcoached on both sides of the football and largely had no answers for anything San Francisco did in all three phases. That unsurprisingly resulted in a 30-7 drubbing by the 49ers on the North Shore.
Pittsburgh’s performance and how unprepared the Steelers looked has former NFL defensive end and current “Green Light” podcast host Chris Long slightly concerned. Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show Monday, Long stated that though it was a tough loss, the Steelers just have to move on from it and get prepared for Week Two against the Cleveland Browns.
“Pittsburgh’s just gotta flush it. If I’m getting on the plane and I’m Pittsburgh and I’m Mike Tomlin, I’m saying ‘Look around at the AFC North, watch these games. We can still compete,'” Long told Eisen, according to video via the show’s YouTube page.
While he did agree with Long that the Steelers just need to flush it and move on, Eisen raised concerns that Pittsburgh looked so unprepared. That has Long concerned too, but the former defensive end sees solutions, at least on offense.
“If you look at them the last three years, and I’ll interject a little gambling here, but they covered the last three years. They covered as ‘dogs, they won those games outright. …Usually, Mike Tomlin, in this spot with time to prepare, the whole thing, I was really excited about Kenny Pickett; still am. I’m still on the hype train,” Long said to Eisen. “I’d love to see them get the ball to George Pickens more. With an offense like that that’s kind of anemic at times, I would get the ball to your best playmaker. Diontae Johnson is a guy that’s got to have a better year, right? …Tough first game, but that’s as tough a test as you’re going to have.”
With time to prepare and having a roster that was seemingly loaded top to bottom, expectations were high entering the season. Tomlin is usually very good at scheming things up when he has time to prepare, but on Sunday the Steelers fell flat.
Expectations were high for Pickett entering the season, too, but he had an ugly showing. His accuracy disappeared in a big spot and he looked completely rattled and unsure of himself after an early interception, missing some layup-like throws that he hit consistently as a rookie.
There was also the inability to get the football to Pickens. He had just seven targets in a blowout that saw Pickett drop back 51 times, hauling in just five passes for 36 yards. Not exactly the type of performance many were hoping for from the second-year pro who has all the tools in the world to be an elite-level receiver and looked like he was on the cusp of stardom coming out of training camp and the preseason.
The important thing though coming out of the Week One loss is that it’s just one week, and it’s a non-conference loss, which is huge for Pittsburgh. They still have plenty of time to right the ship and get moving back in the right direction, starting in Week Two in AFC North play against the Cleveland Browns.
Sunday’s test was a tough one — one that will be the hardest one the Steelers see all season. Flush it, move on, prepare for Cleveland. A lot of football left.
