There wasn’t much that the Pittsburgh Steelers offense did well on Sunday in their 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns. QB Kenny Pickett really struggled, and one play in particular could sum up how Pittsburgh’s offense looked. With a little under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Steelers motioned RB Jaylen Warren out left for what initially appeared to be a designed screen, as Pickett got the ball out to him immediately. Except, it wasn’t a screen, and three Browns defenders quickly diverged on Warren and tackled him for a loss.
Whether the play call was the issue or it was just a bad play by Pickett, which it appeared to be, it was a summation of just how terrible Pittsburgh’s offense ended up being all day. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky ripped the play and Pittsburgh’s offense in a video he posted to Twitter yesterday.
“Why get in this formation and get your one-on-one and not throw it? You’re getting in the formation to create the one-on-one. So throw him the ball,” he said. “Now, if you’re gonna tell me, well, it’s because of the pressure, a couple things. He’s got a hitch, we can get this ball out easily. Two, this isn’t a screen up top. These guys are running a pass concept. What’s the point of that play? I struggle, if you’re telling me the back is the hot, why can’t the hitch that’s a one-on-one to our best player be a hot? So that’s one of my issues, it’s a wasted play.”
The Steelers originally had trips to the left, but by motioning Warren they created a 4×1 with WR George Pickens singled up against CB Denzel Ward. Pickett could’ve hit Pickens immediately on his hitch and picked up at least a few yards, but Pickett didn’t even look in his direction. Instead, he turned and immediately threw to Warren, who was hung out to dry and immediately converged on by three Cleveland defenders.
Orlovsky had more issues with Pittsburgh’s offense, tweeting “There’s no way you watch the Steelers offense and think, ‘They’re calling plays to try and win the game.’ No shot.”
It’s a thought I’m sure many had after watching yesterday’s disaster. Outside of Jaylen Warren, not a single thing went right for the Steelers, and they lost to the Browns’ backup quarterback in Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who got embarrassed in his first start earlier in the season. It was another game where Pickett was just bad, and he didn’t even have his usual fourth-quarter magic to excuse three quarters of terrible football. Instead, it was four quarters of terrible football where Pickett genuinely looked like one of the worst quarterbacks in the league.
The Steelers face Jake Browning and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. After what we saw yesterday, that game surely won’t be a cakewalk.
