When you get blown out as a football team, you can expect the general public to sour on you pretty quickly.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism since their 30-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, having fans and media analysts alike call them a fake contender after showing so much promise in the preseason. The way they looked on offense Sunday was nothing like we saw during preseason and training camp as the Steelers had barely any positive yardage until the final drive of the first half, getting themselves on the board after San Francisco already built up a comfortable 20-0 lead.
The nature of Pittsburgh’s loss was reflected in the latest power rankings by Eric Edholm of NFL.com as he dropped the Steelers five spots to 19th in the league.
“Well, this didn’t go as planned,” Edholm wrote. “The white-hot first-team offense we saw in the preseason was completely smothered early and only looked efficient for one have-to-have-it drive before halftime of Sunday’s loss to the Niners. Kenny Pickett, who pledged to take a big step up this season, had two picks — and he should have had a third, but Fred Warner just dropped a gift that hit him in the hands. Pickett’s final stats (31-of-46 passing, 232 yards) put a cosmetic sheen on what was a bad day. His offensive line (he was sacked five times) and receivers (countless communication errors) did little to help. The run game was virtually abandoned after the early deficit was established. Sign of trouble or a one-game blip?”
Pittsburgh’s defense didn’t help matters on Sunday as RB Christian McCaffrey ran all over the Steelers as well as having QB Brock Purdy look in complete control in the passing game, finding WR Brandon Aiyuk for two touchdowns before taking the foot off the gas in the second half after building a big lead. Still, the offense did the defense no favors as it couldn’t stay on the field in the first half, going three-and-out five times with Pickett struggling mightily with accuracy and making good decisions in the pocket.
It was hard to watch an offense that executed so well just a couple of weeks ago come to a screeching halt. Edholm has a good point though that the Steelers are in position to make this a one-game blip depending on how they come back next Monday night against the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland took care of business against the Cincinnati Bengals in the season opener, holding QB Joe Burrow to a measly 82 yards passing on 31 total attempts in a 24-3 win. Pittsburgh will face a tough test next week as it looks to rebound against a team that held one of the best offenses in check for an entire game. They Steelers need to answer their doubters, making the case that they can be a playoff-caliber team.
