When it comes to cheering on a sports team, there’s usually no better feeling than waking up the next day after a win. So Pittsburgh Steelers fans should have woken up the morning after the Steelers defeated the Tennessee Titans 20-16 on Thursday night feeling pretty good, right?
CBS Sports Network’s Adam Schein disagrees. On Friday’s episode of Time To Schein, he spoke about the issues that still shone through in the win and the feelings Steelers fans must be experiencing.
“Even though they came back, and even though Pickett has a knack, what Steeler fan feels good today?” Schein said. “I don’t think anybody feels good. You take a look at the Steelers’ play on offense, Pickett missed on more passes than he hit…the defense bailed them out, no question about it.”
Strictly speaking on record, Pittsburgh is in a good spot at 5-3. Outside of two bad games against the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans, the defense has done everything those players can do to win games.
While Schein may have been exaggerating QB Kenny Pickett’s completion percentage (plus Pickett played another turnover-free game,) the offense did not play well enough through the majority of the game again. The offense was excellent on the first drive of the game and then again in the fourth quarter, but managed only two field goal drives outside of the bookend touchdowns. Schein continued to back Pickett overall, but even he couldn’t ignore the mistakes Thursday night.
“Pickett threw for under 200 yards,” Schein said. “He missed a wide-open Pickens on numerous occasions… I want to see my guy Kenny Pickett do more and be more consistent throughout these games…look, I don’t blame Kenny Pickett at all, I blame Matt Canada. Having said that, Pickett missed some wide-open throws.”
The offense continues to struggle for long stretches of the game, and people increasingly are digging in their heels on who is to blame. Despite Schein calling out Pickett, he still pinpoints offensive coordinator Matt Canada as the issue. The plan (and hope) was that bringing Canada down to the sideline to call plays would help the offense improve. Statistically, there might not have been a major improvement.
However, you can certainly make the argument that there were wide-open targets for Pickett (that he missed) is a sign of good playcalling. If there is nobody open on a given pass play, then typically that’s a bad sign. Receivers being open is good. Former NFL offensive lineman Shaun O’Hara thought Canada’s playcalling was a big part of the win. RBs Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris combined to carry the ball 27 times for 157 yards and a touchdown (Harris’ second of the season.) Warren also chipped in three catches for 25 yards. There were definitely positive signs on offense.
Unfortunately, Pickett missed some open targets again, and WR George Pickens was unable to get a second foot down for what looked to be a sure touchdown. That being said, when the fourth quarter rolled around, Pickett made the plays needed and showed that knack, as Schein called it. He made a huge throw in the fourth quarter to convert a 3rd-and-6 to extend the drive.
It just speaks to the maddening inconsistency that Schein speaks about. There’s less need for fourth-quarter heroics when you’re making these kinds of plays in the first three quarters. If Pickett completes a few more of his wide-open misses, that can change the complexion of the game. The question is, will he improve more?
For the record, Schein is still sticking with his prediction of a playoff berth for the Steelers. He simply doesn’t see them going far at all, and he wants to question head coach Mike Tomlin about it.
“Mike Tomlin always says, ‘the standard is the standard,'” Schein said. “What’s the standard?! Is it just making the playoffs and being bounced in the first round? Is that the new normal in Pittsburgh? Print the t-shirts, Tomlin goes over .500 again. Is that considered a success?…I picked them to make the playoffs in the preseason, and I know that’s going to be right, but I don’t know any Steeler fan that watched that game last night that feels great about anything other than the final score.”
I don’t know if that last statement is correct. The Steelers got key contributions from two rookies in CB Joey Porter Jr. and OT Broderick Jones who got the start at right tackle. The run game looked the best it has all year. Pickett wasn’t sacked once. (Maybe both things got a boost from Jones?) The defense got four sacks and an interception.
