As we all know by now, the Pittsburgh Steelers got figuratively spanked by the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, losing 30-7 in a laugher. The 49ers were in control of the game from the jump, going down the field right away and putting it in the end zone while Pittsburgh struggled to gain positive yards for most of the first half.
49ers star linebacker Fred Warner himself had a good game on Sunday, posting eight total tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass deflection that teammate S Talanoa Hufanga intercepted on a bad pass attempt from QB Kenny Pickett. Warner spoke about the game against Pittsburgh on The Warner House podcast with his wife Sydney, talking about the big plays San Francisco made on the day, but did want to give credit to Pittsburgh as an opponent.
“Don’t get me wrong, that Steelers team is a heck of a football team,” Warner said on The Warner House podcast which aired on the show’s YouTube channel. “It just didn’t go their way on Sunday. They have a lot of firepower, a lot of playmakers on either side of the ball. If I had to predict if they were going to be a great team this year, I’d say they’re going to be great because Mike Tomlin is one of the best coaches of all-time, they got a great roster, it’s just a matter of putting it together.”
There was a lot of excitement surrounding Pittsburgh heading into the San Francisco matchup. They just came off of a stellar preseason where they looked explosive and crisp offensively while the defense looked loaded with stars and good depth. The offseason concluded with Pittsburgh beefing up their roster in a big way, adding notable free agents as well as a strong draft class that figures to see increased snaps as the season wears on.
There’s no doubt that Pittsburgh didn’t play up to expectations on Sunday, but Warner doesn’t believe that we should be so quick to write them off for having one bad day at the office. After all, San Francisco is one of the better teams in the NFL and got momentum going with Pittsburgh struggling on offense and never looked back, playing loose and free on defense while running it down Pittsburgh’s throats in the second half.
Kyle Brandt of GMFB had a similar statement yesterday, saying that Pittsburgh will be just fine after running into the Mack truck which was the San Francisco 49ers in Week One. Luckily for Pittsburgh, you don’t have to stay the same team with the same performance the last week of the season as you were the first week of the year. They need to get back to the drawing board, fix communication issues, and execute better individually to clean up things on their end without a doubt. But for those pulling the plug on the 2023 season already for Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes, Warner sees the talent this team has and expects Tomlin to turn the ship.
