Following each game in the 2023 Steelers season I will once again be giving you my 10 takes. These aren’t going to be hot takes that are meant to shock the world. This will be instant reactions to the game written while still in that period just following the game when the emotions are high, and the ideas are fresh. Included will be thoughts, observations, queries, and reasons that caused me to yell at the television.
Regular Season Week One vs San Francisco 49ers
1. One For One – Matt Canada was hired as the offensive coordinator in 2021. In Week One of 2021, the Steelers beat the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo. The offense scored one touchdown. In Week One of 2022, the Steelers knocked off the Cincinnati Bengals. The offense scored one offensive touchdown. In Week One 2023, the offense scored one touchdown. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a pattern. People were worried that firing Canada would hurt Kenny Pickett’s development. Keeping him isn’t helping either. The explosiveness of the offense we saw in the preseason was nowhere to be found.
2. McReturn Man – One of the very few bright spots for the team were the kick returns of Anthony McFarland Jr. No dancing, no swerving. Catch the ball and run straight up field. He averaged 30.3 yards per return and was close to breaking at least one. He’s finally finding ways to get on the field, and we can only hope he stays consistent. As soon as coverage teams make him move left and right, we may have different results, but I liked the way he looked in Week One.
3. Poor Performance by Pickett – Another preseason highlight was the accuracy and decision making by Kenny Pickett. That’s why we say, “It’s only preseason.” He was not good this week. Many poor choices starting on the first drive taking a sack. Both of his interceptions came on forced throws. He threw behind several receivers, including Diontae Johnson in the red zone that would have been a walk-in touchdown. He threw low to McFarland, behind Pat Freiermuth and Allen Robinson II. The strides I thought he made in the preseason were all for naught. Let’s hope it was a Week One glitch.
4. “Coverage” – I put that in quotes because technically you can call what the Steelers defense was doing was coverage, but it sure didn’t look like it. The 49er receivers are nice but aren’t going to blow you away. They were all wide open all day. Other than a couple pass breakups by Patrick Peterson on in-breaking routes the defenders were MIA. There are a lot of new players in the secondary and at the linebacker spots so there will be some growing pains as the cohesiveness of the group continues.
5. Soft – If you allow your opponent to get in your head so much that you hurt your team by getting a penalty called against you after the play is over, you are soft. I don’t know what happened on the play early in the game with Levi Wallace. It didn’t look like much, but you can’t get called for a penalty after the play is over and hurt the defense. Late in the game after making a catch, George Pickens got a penalty for something similar after the play was over. That hurt the offense. It cannot happen. Period.
6. Can We Get a Greenlaw? – I’m not happy that I must bring this up again. The physicality of the defense is lacking. Again. The 49er tackles were hard. There were pads smacking. Dre Greenlaw was around the ball constantly and if you closed your eyes, you could hear him making plays. The Steelers tackles were grab and drag. Let me hold you up high and hopefully you’ll stop trying. There were several plays where I thought they had a guy stopped and he would finish forward for 3, 4, 5 more yards. I thought in the second half of last year they had changed their identity for the better. I may have been mistaken.
7. More Wattage Needed – Breaking news: T.J. Watt is good. On a defense that didn’t do much he had three sacks, two forced fumbles and a pass breakup. Without his performance this could have been much worse. Armon Watts not getting a helmet this week was a little surprising. I would have preferred him over Isaiahh Loudermilk. And one more Watt to discuss. If Cameron Heyward is going to be out and extended amount of time, should we call J.J. just in case? It’s worth a shot, right?
8. Not Special Especially – Not a good day for Danny Smith and his teams. Several mistakes and poor performances to cover. Taking a timeout with the field goal block team on the field is a sad error. Probably too many men on the field. On the next snap, they were offsides trying to block the field goal. There was a false start by Elandon Roberts on a punt. On a good punt that had impressive kick coverage, long snapper Christian Kuntz got called for a facemask. Other than one 57-yard punt, Pressley Harvin III was less than spectacular. Junior varsity all around.
9. Line of Demarcation – Over the last two seasons there has been a concerted effort to improve the offensive line. I was among the group expecting that group to be much better this year. Week One left me wanting. Now, not all of this can be blamed directly on the line but allowing five sacks, nine quarterback hits and eight tackles for a loss is completely unacceptable. Like the defense, the new players up front need time to become comfortable with each other. I still expect them to be a positive group of this offense, but it better happen pretty quick.
10. Stats We Have Never Experienced – Did you see the stat they showed about the 49ers? They have led the league in yards after the catch every year since 2018. That is five consecutive years! Here’s what I need to see. Grab some of those guys working behind the scenes at the facility. Give them every 49ers game film for the last five years. Document every play by the offense. Go into Canada’s playbook. Delete everything. Add in every 49ers play. Going forward run the 49ers offense. The Steelers have athletes and so much potential that is not being accessed. It’s a waste of talent in my eyes.
