The day after a victory is supposed to be a cause for celebration, but in Pittsburgh it’s more of a sigh of relief. The Steelers gritted out another tough win the way only they can Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans to the tune of 20-16.
A Matt Canada appearance on the sideline stole headlines pregame as the offensive coordinator traded a seat in the booth for the first time in his career. While the stats don’t reflect it, the change seemed to make an impact with the team scoring on its first drive for the season for the first time this year.
Throw out a few Kenny Pickett misses and George Pickens’ toe-tap gaffe and the Steelers may be looking at their first 400-yard day in the Canada era. Still, despite the signs of life from the offense, the team stuck to its painstakingly conservative identity. One that, according to Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema, holds Pittsburgh back.
“How do the Steelers keep playing this conservative and still keep coming up with wins?” asked Sikkema on the PFF Show. “They’re playing it super safe and they’re getting the results that they want, but it’s moments like that that do not give me faith in the Pittsburgh Steelers to beat the best teams in the NFL.”
The moment Sikkema is referencing is in the Steelers’ final drive of the game when they faced a 2nd and 13 and elected to run the ball instead of passing it. The team followed that up with another run on 3rd and 11, leading to a punt with 1:38 on the clock.
The strategy, of course, was to force the Titans to use two of their three timeouts and make the team go the length of the field to win. While I understand wanting to put pressure on rookie quarterback Will Levis, I tend to agree with Sikkema. This is the NFL, and offenses should be able to go the length of the field in that amount of time and a timeout in their pocket.
Had the Steelers passed and converted when they had the ball, the game would have been over and there would be no need for another defensive stand. The lack of confidence in the offense has been painfully clear throughout the season, and if the Steelers hope to make the leap towards contenders, they will need to take their foot off the brakes.
With their next game against the disarrayed Green Bay Packers, maybe Mike Tomlin and crew can continue to build upon their confidence in the unit.
