The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Do the Steelers have a maturity issue?
Two different players were flagged for taunting during Sunday’s win against the Los Angeles Rams. Both of them came at significant moments, but they were preceded by another incident that set the stage for the day. Early in the game, RB Najee Harris got into the face of a defender following a hard run.
As head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed in his pre-game press conference yesterday, the officiating crew advised them at that time that such things would not be tolerated on the day, even though they chose not to penalize Harris in that moment, but rather give a warning.
One would imagine that Tomlin communicated this message to his team, but whether he did or did not, both WRS George Pickens and Diontae Johnson got caught up in moments and drew penalties for entirely unnecessary post-play interactions with defenders.
These are just easy lay-up examples of a lack of discipline very explicitly having a negative effect on the team. And to be fair, it’s just one game. The Steelers are among the least penalized teams in the league this year, though Sunday’s game was by far the worst in that regard.
On top of that, it’s now been three games in a row in which they’ve had unsportsmanlike conduct or taunting penalties called against them. They even got an illegal formation penalty on a victory formation snap, though that’s not a question of maturity.
The Steelers do have several young players, or youngish players, in key roles. Some of them more than others like to get in people’s faces, which is something the league has been cracking down on in recent years in an effort to minimize the risk of fights. Whether you like the rule or not, you have to play accordingly or risk hurting your team.
