Power Rankings across the NFL landscape can be a rather puzzling and futile exercise. Yet they are so darn enticing.
Despite losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week Eight at home at Acrisure Stadium, the Pittsburgh Steelers somehow remain a fringe top-15 team in a trio of Power Rankings across the NFL media landscape.
In fact, the Steelers climbed a spot in The Athletic’s Power Rankings Tuesday morning, moving from No. 13 to No. 12 despite coming off a loss. In The Athletic’s Power Rankings compiled by Josh Kendall, the Steelers moved ahead of the Cleveland Browns, who fell six spots from No. 7 after a 24-20 loss on the road to the Seattle Seahawks.
For Kendall, the biggest concern with the Steelers is head coach Mike Tomlin’s loyalty, particularly with offensive coordinator Matt Canada, after another dismal offensive showing.
“Kenny Pickett had to leave Sunday’s game with a rib injury, but does it matter who the quarterback is with offensive coordinator Matt Canada in charge? Canada has been in charge of Pittsburgh’s offense since 2021. In that time, the Steelers are 29th in the NFL in scoring (18.63 ppg),” Kendall writes regarding the Steelers’ ranking in the latest Power Rankings. “Since the start of last season, Pittsburgh is dead last in scoring (17.5 ppg), and still, there’s no indication that Tomlin is going to get rid of Canada.”
If you’re still holding out hope that Tomlin and the Steelers are going to fire Canada — or even remove play-calling duties from him — at this point, it’s time to give it up. You probably shouldn’t have had that hope in the first place. That’s just something the Steelers don’t do, right or wrong.
There’s no denying the offense has gotten worse from last season, though, which is very concerning overall. It’s a group that has seemingly all the pieces in place — at least at the skill positions — to be a good offense. But the Steelers are struggling to execute at a high level, and when they aren’t executing it’s not as if the play-calling is helping them out, either.
It’s a bad offense, period.
Still, seeing the Steelers sitting at No. 12 in the Power Rankings is quite puzzling. That’s a testament to their defense, though.
In CBS Sports’ Power Rankings compiled by Pete Prisco Tuesday morning, the Steelers fell from No. 11 to No. 16, dropping behind the likes of the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers, putting Pittsburgh on the fringe of the top 15.
“The offense regressed against Jacksonville and now Kenny Pickett is hurt. It’s amazing Mike Tomlin has this team with a winning record,” Prisco writes regarding the Steelers in his Power Rankings.
As Prisco’s colleague Jeff Kerr pointed out on Monday, the Steelers’ offense is worse this year than it was last year. That is very discouraging considering everything was supposed to be so much better this season with offensive upgrades along the offensive line, an anticipated second-year leap by Pickett and the third season of Canada, continuing familiarity among the offense.
It’s been largely the exact opposite as the offense line has been rather woeful, Pickett has regressed rather hard, and Canada remains under fire.
That the Steelers are 4-3, second in the AFC North with a 2-0 record and remain in the AFC playoff picture despite the offensive challenges is rather impressive. Tomlin does deserve some credit there.
As for NFL.com’s Power Rankings compiled by Eric Edholm, the Steelers dropped from No. 13 to No. 15 after the loss to the Jaguars, falling behind the likes of the Jets and Saints.
“Two straight wins had Steelers fans believing again. Then came Sunday’s defeat to the Jaguars, which was painful in multiple ways, with two of Pittsburgh’s most indispensable players, S Minkah Fitzpatrick and QB Kenny Pickett, exiting with injuries. Fitzpatrick is arguably the Steelers’ most important player, both because of his skill and because of the drop-off behind him on the depth chart. The fact that his hamstring injury happened ahead of a short week makes it even less ideal,” Edholm writes regarding the Steelers’ ranking in his latest Power Rankings. “The next two games at home (vs. Titans, vs. Packers) are winnable, but Tennessee enters the upcoming Thursday Night Football matchup with confidence after Will Levis’ sparkling debut.
“While the sailing never figured to be smooth for the Steelers, navigating this stretch — potentially with backups playing significant roles — will be key before they face a tough road duo to close out November (at Cleveland, at Cincinnati).”
Losing Fitzpatrick and Pickett in the same game was a significant blow to Pittsburgh moving forward. Though Pickett has an outside chance at playing on Thursday night against the Titans, Fitzpatrick had already been ruled out with the hamstring injury.
The Steelers were riding high after wins over the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Rams in their last two times out on the field, but things came crashing back to Earth Sunday against the Jaguars.
That has the Steelers sitting as a fringe top-15 team in a trio of Power Rankings.
