Heading into Sunday’s season opener at Acrisure Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers, the Pittsburgh Steelers knew just how physical the 49ers were going to be, how just how good of a team they’d be overall.
They found out that their expectations came up a bit short in that area. San Francisco dominated from start to finish Sunday in a 30-7 win, outgaining the Steelers, 391-239 yards and possessing the ball for 37:23 in the win.
Post-game, the mood of head coach Mike Tomlin and players T.J. Watt and Kenny Pickett was one of frustration, with Tomlin stating that the Steelers “got kicked in the teeth today” in his post-game press conference.
Expectations were high for the Steelers entering the 2023 season, but Sunday was a slice of humble pie. Tomlin put the blame on everyone, from coaches to players.
“We gotta coach better, we gotta play better. We talked about a lot of the things and worked on a lot of the things that unfolded in the ways that we didn’t want them to,” Tomlin said to reporters following the loss, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTue page. “And so we go back to the drawing board. We accept responsibility, obviously for the outcome. We compliment those guys on the quality work that they did. We absorb the negativity that comes with how we perform today, and we go back to work. We gotta prepare ’em better.
“They gotta play better, and that’s just the reality of it. We got kicked in the teeth today, in a lot of ways.”
Sounds harsh, but it’s short, sweet and to the point.
The Steelers were outcoached, outplayed and physically dominated from kickoff to the end of the 30-7 loss. The Steelers lost in the trenches far too consistently on both sides of the football, really struggled to cover in the secondary and couldn’t find a way to win possession downs, allowing San Francisco to covert 6-of-13 third downs and one fourth-down attempt, while Pittsburgh went just 5-for-15, with many of those conversions coming late in the game.
After all the hype leading up to Sunday’s matchup, the Steelers have to go back to the drawing board and figure things out — and fast. Another physical team is coming to Acrisure Stadium next Monday in the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers can’t afford to get kicked in the teeth again at home.
