The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t play their best football on Sunday, losing 20-10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Pittsburgh will see another AFC South opponent in just a few days, as the Steelers host the Tennessee Titans on Thursday. Tennessee QB Ryan Tannehill missed the team’s game today with an injury, but rookie QB Will Levis excelled, throwing for four touchdowns in a 28-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons. After today’s game, Steelers players talked about the need to quickly move on and get ready for the Titans.
“We just gotta forget about it and keep moving on. We got a game Thursday, so this game happened, we’re gonna learn from it quick and we just gotta keep moving on,” rookie CB Joey Porter Jr., selected one pick before Levis in the 2023 NFL Draft, said postgame via Steelers.com.
“We got a Thursday night game. We got a quick turnaround. You just gotta tip your hats off to Jacksonville, we gotta look at this film, we gotta correct it quickly and we got to move on to Tennessee,” LB Elandon Roberts, who had five tackles and 1.5 sacks in Pittsburgh’s loss today said postgame.
The two weren’t alone. OLB Alex Highsmith echoed the same sentiment, as did WR Diontae Johnson after his rant about the officials. The fact of the matter is, even if the Steelers are without QB Kenny Pickett, they can’t afford to fall to 4-4. The Titans are a solid opponent, especially if Levis can continue to play the way he did in his NFL debut. The Steelers are also going to need to find a way to stop RB Derrick Henry, who ran for 101 yards today.
Pittsburgh has had issues giving up big plays in the passing game, and despite being a rookie, Levis proved today that he’s not afraid to take shots. He had three touchdown passes to DeAndre Hopkins, which were from 47, 16 and 61 yards. If the Steelers lapse in coverage, he’s going to make them pay, and Hopkins showed today why he’s still one of the better receivers in the NFL.
The Steelers can’t wallow over the refs not having a good game or over their own performance. They have just three days to practice and prepare before Thursday, and they’re going to need to be ready for Levis and the Titans. Pittsburgh’s offense has to be better, whether it’s QB Kenny Pickett, who left the game today with a rib injury and didn’t return, or QB Mitch Trubisky under center. Scoring 10 points is never going to get the job done, and Pittsburgh has to learn from the loss and quickly process it and move on.
With how strong the AFC North is, a 4-4 record isn’t a spot the Steelers want to find themselves, especially with four divisional games remaining. It’s not quite a must-win on Thursday, but the Steelers would be putting themselves in a really tough spot if they lose. They need to be ready.
