The Pittsburgh Steelers eked out a 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football, and while the offense had another come-from-behind win, it scored just two touchdowns, and it was once again the defense that led the charge by keeping the Titans off the scoreboard and holding them to three points instead of seven. Former Eagles scout John Middlekauff, who now hosts the 3 & Out With John Middlekauff podcast on Colin Cowherd’s The Volume, questioned just how much the Steelers can really do with an offense that seems to perpetually struggle.
“That defense is borderline championship-worthy,” Middlekauff said. “Definitely, when healthy, that is a big-time, competitive defense that can take you on the run. But offensively, obviously you move the offensive coordinator down to the sideline, it just looks over. They’ve scored over 25 points this season one time. That’s just not gonna be good enough. It feels like they’re kind of running in no-man’s-land. They are kinda the same team year in, year out. It doesn’t look any different really from last year.”
Middlekauff continued that despite the talent of Pittsburgh’s defense, he can’t see the Steelers winning a playoff game on the road with their offense. He’s right that this is essentially the same team as last year, but with more talent that’s helping the Steelers win games earlier in the season. Kenny Pickett has flashes, and he’s usually good to put together two drives a game, and obviously his ability to win in the fourth quarter is impressive. But he can’t wait until the fourth quarter to suddenly turn it on.
It’s maddening watching Pickett this season. He’ll miss easy throws all game long, and then suddenly drop a perfect throw in the bucket in the fourth quarter. That was the case yesterday, as his 3rd-and-6 throw to Diontae Johnson was an absolute dime. Why can’t he do that throughout the game, with some sort of consistency? It makes no sense.
The positive is that Pittsburgh’s offense looked a lot better on Thursday Night than it did in the team’s Week Eight loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Having Pickett available and healthy the full game helped make a difference, but even coming out and getting a touchdown on the opening drive is a huge improvement over pretty much anything the Steelers have done in the first quarter this season.
The defense is so fun to watch and so good. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith are two of the best players in the NFL, and the return of Cameron Heyward solidifies the interior defensive line. They’re a unit that can take this team far, but how far can the Steelers really go if the offense doesn’t step up? This is a team that needs to win a playoff game given that it hasn’t won since 2016, and the talent is there. The defense is going to have to be the catalyst while the offense does just enough, barring a random second-half surge. We’ll see if the Steelers have that in them.
Watch the full 3 & Out podcast below.
