What an embarrassment.
No other way to really sum up Sunday’s 30-6 loss on the road to the Houston Texans for the Pittsburgh Steelers than that.
The Steelers came out completely flat, had no answers for an injury-depleted Houston offense and couldn’t generate anything offensively before quarterback Kenny Pickett went down with a knee injury.
A bad day went to much, much worse in the blink of an eye.
Now, the Steelers are 2-2 on the season and have so, so many questions that need answered — and fast.
Let’s get to some grades.
QB — F
What a disaster — again.
One week after showing some signs of life on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders, Kenny Pickett fell flat against the Houston Texans. Pickett threw for just 114 yards on 15-of-33 attempts before leaving the game with an injury. He had a bad interception in the first quarter on a late, underthrown ball deep downfield intended for Calvin Austin III, and just really couldn’t generate much of anything.
There were few middle of the field routes, everything felt contested, and he continued to bail out of clean pockets, including on the dreadful fourth-and-1 play call in which he got hurt, forcing him out of the game.
Mitch Trubisky wasn’t any better in relief. He nearly threw an interception on his first pass attempt on a deep shot for George Pickens and really just didn’t do much of anything, completing 3-of-5 passes for 18 yards.
Not only is the offense a nightmare, so, too, is the quarterback position for Pittsburgh.
RB — B-
Najee Harris had his best game of the season, and it didn’t even matter.
Harris ran hard and really helped establish a strong running game on Sunday in Houston. He ran for a season-high 71 yards on just 14 carries and ripped off runs of 23 and 15 yards in the loss. When the Steelers were running downhill with power, Harris was chewing up grass at 5-6 yards a clip.
Then, they went away from him, especially in short-yardage situations that were quite puzzling, such as the third-and-2 failure by Jaylen Warren and the fourth-and-1 bizarre play call in which Pickett ultimately got hurt. Harris should have been the guy in those short-yardage situations, and you could he was frustrated over coming off the field in those moments.
Harris made a big play as a receiver, too, making a diving catch on a busted play with Pickett rolling out to his left. Harris made himself available, make a terrific catch while falling, got up and added some more yards, capping the 32-yard catch in style. It was his best day and it’s rather frustrating that it didn’t matter.
Behind him, Warren was pretty shaky. Yes, he had a nice 18-yard run, but he had ball-security issues and was asked to do far too much on checkdowns, hauling in six passes for just 26 yards. He added just 29 yards on eight carries, fumbling once in the game.
WR — F
Ugly, ugly showing from the wide receivers in all facets of the game.
George Pickens had just three receptions for 25 yards and really couldn’t do much of anything against the Texans’ secondary. Shaquill Griffin gave him fits all day long. No separation, no real opportunity for splash play. Microcosm of the Steelers’ offense.
Calvin Austin III had just three catches for 24 yards and was targeted on Pickett’s interception on the first drive. He could have attacked the football in the air much better than he did, but again, asking a 5-foot-8 receiver to attack the football in the air in a contested-catch situation isn’t exactly ideal.
Veteran Allen Robinson II had just one catch for 10 yards, and he got blown up on a run play by Houston’s Jalen Pitre in the first half that led to a Warren fumble. Ugly day all around.
TE — F
Pat Freiermuth has become a complete zero as a blocker for the Steelers at this point.
I never want to question effort, but some reps as a blocker in recent weeks have been rather dreadful. He did it again on Sunday on the failed third and 2 as he was blown up and put on skates from one side of the formation to the other, leading to the failed conversion and ultimately a punt. He wasn’t much of a factor in the passing game, either, finishing with three catches for seven yards, nine of which came on a nice catch and run in which he showed some power.
Darnell Washington looked pretty solid as a blocker, helping clear some lanes for Harris and Warren. He even added his first career catch in the loss, hauling in a check down and dishing out punishment at the end for 10 yards.
Just a dreadful showing in the passing game though, and real concerns from Freiermuth as a blocker. He’s hurt now, too. Ugly.
OL — D+
When the Steelers ran the football and tried to punch the Texans right in the mouth, the line had quite a bit of success. Najee Harris looked the best he’s looked all season and really came out looking to set the tone. Isaac Seumalo, Nate Herbig and Mason Cole looked good in the run game when given the opportunity to work downhill.
But outside of that, the offensive line was dreadful.
The group allowed three sacks, though Pickett ran into at least one of them on his own, and allowed six quarterback hits and seven tackles for loss. Chukwuma Okorafor had absolutely no answer for Will Anderson and Dan Moore Jr. and Broderick Jones struggled against Jonathan Greenard, allowing him to record two sacks.
The Steelers’ clear strength is running power downhill, yet they don’t do it nearly enough. That’s on coaching.
DL — D
The Steelers were dominated at the point of attack by a makeshift Houston offensive line.
Talk about discouraging.
The Texans ran for 139 yards on 38 carries. Houston had a ton of success on the ground early and often, setting the tone and the tempo of the game, taking Pittsburgh’s pass rush out of it.
Larry Ogunjobi, DeMarvin Leal, Montravius Adams and rookie Keeanu Benton were pushed around consistently, which was very frustrating to see, considering the type of matchup advantage the Steelers seemingly had in the trenches.
There was no real pass rush from the group, either. Just 15 total tackles on the night and just one pass defensed. No tackles for loss, no quarterback hits. Yikes.
LB — D
Alex Highsmith played quite well in the loss, generating three quarterback hits coming off the edge. He was half a second away from a sack every single time. But almost in football is a loss.
Opposite him, T.J. Watt was largely invisible. He had just two tackles and one quarterback hit. He was completely neutralized by Houston’s success running the football and getting the ball out quickly, not to mention the chips and double teams he faced as well.
Markus Golden really struggled in his action as well as the Texans took advantage of him with misdirection along the defensive front, stressing him.
Inside, the group of Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts and Kwon Alexander really struggled against the run. They weren’t able to get off blocks consistently, didn’t flow well sideline to sideline to make plays against zone runs and then were picked on in coverage, particularly Roberts against tight ends.
Roberts did have 10 tackles, one tackle for loss and two quarterback hits, but he wasn’t as impactful as the numbers might suggest. Really discouraging day overall from the linebackers.
DB — F
Yikes.
Talk about getting carved up.
The Steelers secondary had no answer for Houston when it took to the air as C.J. Stroud threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns with backup running back Devin Singletary throwing a 6-yard touchdown pass late.
Minkah Fitzpatrick led the Steelers with 11 tackles, but he had some misses in space and really wasn’t his typical impact self. Houston did a really good job of going away from him, and then when the Texans attacked him it was in space, leading to some misses. He also had a woeful pass interference call made against him on the Texans’ opening touchdown drive. Feels like he’s a target for officials right now.
Levi Wallace and Patrick Peterson really struggled against Houston’s receivers as well, particularly Nico Collins. He had a career day against the Steelers, finishing with seven receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
Keanu Neal had quite an impact in the box. He had some big hits and really tackled well, but there’s not much there in coverage. What a nightmare of a showing.
Special Teams — B-
Outside of some bad decisions by Desmond King II to bring out the kickoff from the end zone twice, giving up some much-needed yardage, special teams were fine for the Steelers.
Chris Boswell had a nice day, hitting two field goals for the Black and Gold’s only points of the game. Punter Brad Wing, making his first appearance in the NFL since 2017, averaged 47.6 yards per punt and had one downed inside the 20-yard line with a long of 52. He did outkick his coverage once, which led to a 14-yard punt return by Tank Dell.
The Steelers also allowed a 35-yard kickoff return by Devin Singletary, which was the only true negative on the day from special teams.
