Perspective Of An Average Steelers Fan: 49ers Expose Steelers

Game Prelude

The San Francisco 49ers exposed the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers fans should not have a difficult time adjusting from high aspirations after an encouraging training camp and preseason. The 49ers dominated Pittsburgh in every facet of the game.

The sold-out stadium had a definite red tinge. I’ve attended many games since the new stadium was built. Not many teams amass enough visiting fans to take over the stadium. Buffalo has travelled well to Pittsburgh the last few seasons. But this may have been the most visiting fans I have ever seen at a Steelers home game. Easily 15 to 20 percent of the seats occupied by someone clad in red. Likely more. Late in the game, the visitors erupted into a “Let’s go Niners chant!” Ironically, it was during a San Francisco possession. They easily could have forced Kenny Pickett into a silent count. But either through politeness or pity they chose not to.

This was from very late in the game:

Steelers Offense

The Steelers scored one touchdown on 11 possessions.

Offense Futile First Half

Pittsburgh had six possessions in the first half.

Kenny Pickett sacked on third down to end the first possession. Diontae Johnson slipped, and the defender intercepts the pass on the second. Next drive, Pickett misses an open Johnson on third and eight. Isaac Seumalo false starts on third and 15. Then Pickett is sacked to force another punt. Pickett throws incomplete for Pat Freiermuth on third and six on the fifth drive.

The final first-half possession began on the Steelers five-yard line with 1:35 to play and no timeouts. Pittsburgh appeared to get its initial first down on a quick pass to George Pickens. But the replay official reviewed the spot and marked it a half yard short. On third and one, Najee Harris ran for 24 yards with 15 more added for unnecessary roughness on San Francisco. Pittsburgh picked up five more first downs. Freiermuth left the game after taking a hard shot but came back in. He caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Pickett but was hit hard again. The half ended with Pittsburgh down 20-7.

Offensive Ineptitude Continues

Pittsburgh fell further behind 27-7 two plays into the second half. They gained more yards but no better end results. Two punts and two drives ended on failed fourth down conversions with an interception sandwiched in-between. Johnson started it off with a 26-yard catch-and-run on the very first Pittsburgh offensive play of the second half. But even that had a bad ending as he was lost for the rest of the game with a hamstring injury. They ended up punting.

A defensive takeaway gives Pittsburgh its best start if the game at 49ers’ 39-yard line. They reach the eight but a pass for Freiermuth falls incomplete on fourth down. The Steelers go into the fourth quarter still down 27-7. Pickett is operating from a no-huddle for the remainder of the game. A series of quick passes to Calvin Austin III and Allen Robinson II takes Pittsburgh from its 4-yard line to its 38. On second and 12, Connor Heyward gains 11. Najee Harris gains another five for the first down at San Fran 48. Pickett throws deep middle for Heyward. But it is Troy Polamalu protégé Talanoa Hufanga who catches the errant pass.

Pittsburgh’s final possession began on the 25 with 5:30 remaining. A big third-and-11 play got the ball to the Frisco 30-yard line on a 31-yard completion to Robinson. But another bad result. Chukwuma Okorafor was injured on the play and left the game for concussion protocol. Broderick Jones came in at left tackle, Dan Moore shifting to Chuk’s spot at right tackle. Pickett was sacked for a 10-yard loss on the next play. Pittsburgh got 15 back. But on fourth and five, Pickett was sacked for the fifth and final time of the game. San Francisco knelt on the final two plays of the game.

Steelers Defense

The Steelers gave up a score on half of the 49ers’ possessions. The lone bright spot was T.J. Watt sacking Brock Purdy three times, including recovering his own strip sack.

San Francisco Exploits Favorable Field Position

San Francisco took advantage of favorable field position to score 20 first-half points. The defense could do little to stop them. On fourth and one, Brock Purdy connected with George Kittle, who was covered by Elandon Roberts, for 11 yards. Two Christian McCaffrey runs covered 26 yards. Purdy finished the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk, who would scorch Patrick Peterson and the secondary for eight catches and 129 yards for the day. The defense held San Francisco to a field goal on another short field. A key play in the third drive was a 22-yard pass to Deebo Samuel that took the ball into the red zone.

Purdy then connected with Aiyuk for his second touchdown. Then, a special teams penalty gave San Francisco the ball at midfield. Purdy connects with Aiyuk for 16 yards on third and seven. Levi Wallace loses his cool and another 15 is added for unnecessary roughness away from the tackle. Then T.J. Watt sacked Purdy and looked like he recovered the ball even though officials ruled that Purdy had it. Mike Tomlin challenged the call looking for a fumble recovery. But the officials upheld the play. Frisco ended up with a field goal. Four drives, 20 points.

The Pittsburgh defense finally forced a punt on San Francisco’s fifth drive. Some pressure applied to Purdy, but his receivers were getting open.

Defense Staggered on Second Play After Halftime

The Steelers defense helped ice this game for the 49ers just two plays into the second half. On first and 10 from their own 35, McCaffrey ran on the inside of his left tackle. He somehow twisted through a narrow gap, and he went racing 65 yards for a touchdown. He was helped with some excellent downfield blocking. Steelers down 27-7 and not even a minute off the clock.

Cam Heyward injured his groin at some point in the game. He came back a couple times before finally leaving for good. T.J. Watt sacked Purdy to force a punt on one drive. Then he strip-sacked and recovered his own forced fumble for a takeaway on another. But it was too little too late. Steelers fell 30-7.

Special Teams

Special teams are an underappreciated facet of the game where one big play can shift momentum or even decide the game winner.

I break special teams into three phases: Kickoffs, punting, and field goals, including extra-point attempts. Here is an overview of the special teams play during the game:

KICKOFFS

Chris Boswell kicked twice. Both touchbacks.

49ers punter Mitch Wishnowsky kicked off seven times. Four were touchbacks. But Anthony McFarland Jr. averaged 30.3 yards on three returns. They did not impact the game, but it was nice to see three good kick returns to start beyond the 25.

THE STATS

Advantage Steelers.

PUNTING

Pressley Harvin III punted six times averaging 42.3 yards each. His first was the worst. From his own 20, he punted the ball out of bounds for 34 yards, giving San Francisco great field position at its own 46 leading to their first score. His longest punt for 57 yards was marred by a facemask penalty called on Christian Kuntz, which placed the ball at midfield from the 35, leading to another score. His shortest punt of 28 yards was fair caught at the 17, his only punt behind the 20. Former Steeler Ray-Ray McCloud returned three for a 10.3 average. Not sure why Miles Boykin or James Pierre could not cover. Harvin’s maddening inconsistency has me wondering if the Steelers shouldn’t have kept Braden Mann instead.

Wishnowsky punted three times. Two were downed or went out of bounds near the 5-yard line. Calvin Austin III attempted to return a third instead of letting it go into the end zone. He gained two yards before being tackled at the six. Pittsburgh’s inconsistency coupled with Wishnowsky pinning the Steelers deep on all three of his punts gives the 49ers a large edge here.

THE STATS

Advantage 49ers.

FIELD GOALS and EXTRA POINTS

Chris Boswell kicked one extra point.

Rookie Jake Moody, who had been on the injury report, during the week converted all of his kicks. Three extra points plus three field goals. He gained a reprieve when Cam Heyward crushed the interior line and Patrick Peterson blocked his first 46-yard attempt. Unfortunately, Peterson was a tad too early allowing Moody to re-kick a 41-yarder.

THE STATS

Advantage 49ers

DAVE BRYAN’S VICTORY PUNCH LIST

Dave Bryan provided five keys for a Steelers victory. Here is how the Steelers fared in them:

1. Defense holds Brock Purdy under 7.00 ANY/A (Adjusted Net Yards Per Passing Attempt). Mission Failure.
2. Kenny Pickett connects with several completions thrown 15 or more yards downfield. Pickett completed one deep pass to Allen Robinson II for 31 yards, but another was intercepted by 49ers. Mission Failure.
3. Special teams deliver at least one difference-making play. A poor punt and a facemask penalty gave favorable field position for two 49ers scores. Mission Failure.
4. Win the turnover battle. Pickett was intercepted twice and the 49ers scored two field goals off those giveaways. T.J. Watt recovered his own strip-sack, but Pittsburgh failed to exploit the takeaway. Mission Failure.
5. Keep the game within a touchdown going into the fourth quarter. The Steelers were down 27-7 going into final quarter. Mission Failure.

The Steelers failed to accomplish any of the keys to victory.

YOUR HOT TAKES DURING THE GAME

Thank you, Ross McCorkle, for keeping us up to date on the game’s first and second half Live Update and Discussion Threads. Steelers Depot respondents contributed 2,058 first-half comments. Respondents added  1,160 more second-half comments.  Here are the “best comments” of the game. I don’t know the algorithm used by Disqus but here is how they stacked it up:

Nunya led with the best comment of the first half about the offensive play calling: “The best play caller in the NFL vs. the worst play caller in the NFL. Who could have seen they start?😂”

But it wasn’t just play calling that caught respondents’ attention. L Garou saw a missed opportunity to an open receiver: “No excuse for that miss by Kenny….”

Before the game started, Chris92021 gave the site some appreciation, which got a lot of endorsements. “Thank you, Steelers Depot for operating the best site for us Steelers fans. I stopped using BTSC and Steelers Wire years ago. You are the Omar Khan of all Steelers’ sites. Now let’s start fast and stay healthy! And root for all Steelers to succeed, not just the ones who fit your own narrative!”

But most of the positive commentary became scarce not long after the game started.

The Steelers did not give respondents much to cheer about either. Ian H looking for substitutions. “There’s no reason for JPJr to be on the sideline if Levi Wallace is this bad.”

One commenter offered some dark humor. “DJ finally went forward after a catch and his hamstring just couldn’t take it.”

Monkey’s Uncle summed up the feelings around Steeler Nation watching this debacle. “My mom was switching back and forth between Steelers game and Browns-Bengals game. For the second half she decided to do laundry instead. Smart woman, my mom.”

CONCLUSION

I said before that this game would be a good barometer for the Steelers’ prospects. The San Francisco 49ers showed us what a playoff contender looks like. Pittsburgh looked just like a pretender.

This game was a stinker.

The Browns are coming to town Monday night after pummeling the Bengals. The availability of Cam Heyward and Diontae Johnson is unknown at this time. The Steelers will have to flush this game down the toilet and adjust quickly. They were beat down decisively. Time for a reset. Here we go.

Your Song Selection

I always like to include a bit of music. I don’t want to overreact. But this game has me thinking if the Steelers don’t right the ship quickly, we could see this season slip, sliding away. Here is Slip Slidin’ Away performed by Paul Simon.