If the Pittsburgh Steelers want to beat the New England Patriots Thursday night, they’ll have to start with not beating themselves. Unforced errors were a driving reason for the team’s 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, one of the worst losses of the Mike Tomlin era.
With a short week to correct things, interim OC Eddie Faulkner said that was top of mind in meetings and for the team’s upcoming practices. Per the PPG’s Brian Batko, Faulkner said the players responsible for those costly flags were “held accountable.”
“That was the first thing we addressed,” Faulkner said, per Batko. “We made sure everybody knows that’s unacceptable…they definitely were held accountable.”
In a video later uploaded by the Post-Gazette, Faulkner expanded on cleaning up the Steelers’ problems.
“A lot of the issues that came up in that game, we talked about and discussed. Whether it was myself or Coach Tomlin in front of the room. That gives you all the ability in the world to walk in there and go, ‘guys, look. We talked about this and this didn’t happen.’ So what happens with that? Now, the accountability falls on the players making sure they’re executing it and getting done what they need to get done…they gotta have some more urgency with the way they go about their business.”
Faulkner said he felt the message has been received and players are “owning it.”
Twice on Sunday, Pittsburgh was flagged for illegal formations, wiping out first-down runs. We talked about them in our Monday film room highlighting the many errors in all three phases the Steelers had in the loss.
On the first play, RB Jaylen Warren motions across as a lead blocker on the team’s Zorro Toss, a popular and successful concept that the team’s implemented this season. But with no eligible player on the left side of the line, LT Dan Moore Jr. was uncovered. And it drew an obvious flag.
On the second one, RT Broderick Jones wasn’t covered up, TE Connor Heyward aligned off-ball, and Jaylen Warren’s run was negated.
In both cases, it’s difficult to say who the blame falls on. In the first example, perhaps a wide receiver should’ve aligned on the other side, though it begs the question of why QB Kenny Pickett didn’t help direct traffic. On the second, it’s most likely that Heyward was supposed to be on the ball instead of off it, but determining miscommunication and errors like these from an outsider perspective can be tricky to do.
Regardless of specific blame, the Steelers played far too sloppy in the loss. They finished with nine penalties, turned the ball over in their own territory, and struggled getting the correct number of players on the field. Offensively, they had to burn an early second-half timeout for having just 10 men out there. Defensively, they were flagged late in the game for having 12 men on the field. As we outlined this morning, it’s become a recurring habit the last three games, something that wouldn’t be acceptable in a preseason game, let alone as the Steelers fight for a playoff berth.
In replacing Matt Canada, Faulkner proclaimed that he was a “details” guy. Against the Cardinals, the Steelers were anything but. Thursday will tell if the team’s problems have been addressed.
