Not much went right in Pittsburgh’s 24-10 loss at home to the Arizona Cardinals as the Steelers took a big step back from any positive momentum they had gained from their win in Cincinnati the previous week. The offense looked dismal yet again. It failed to get into the end zone until garbage time when the Cardinals had a three-touchdown lead late in the fourth quarter, failing to build off the 421-yard performance it had the previous week.
TE Pat Freiermuth was available to the media following the game and said blame can’t keep falling on the offensive coordinator for the mistakes the players are making on the field.
“It has nothing to do with the coordinator,” Freiermuth said to the media according to a tweet from Mike DeFabo’s X Page. “It has everything to do with the players. It’s not the coordinator’s fault that we’re lining up wrong and jumping offsides. It’s not the coordinator’s fault at all. It’s never been. We’ve got to fix it. The players.”
The offense appeared to be trending in the right direction after Pittsburgh fired OC Matt Canada, topping 400 yards of total offense for the first time in 58 games, something the team never did with Canada at the helm. Still, Pittsburgh only scored 16 points against Cincinnati, often driving the field, but failing to punch the ball into the end zone.
Those same problems plagued the Steelers against the Cardinals as they outgained Arizona (317 to 282 yards), but only had 10 points to show for it. Pittsburgh had multiple issues on offense throughout the contest, including failing to punch the ball in with RB Najee Harris from the 1-yard line on fourth down in the second quarter. The Steelers also had multiple penalties, including illegal formation and false starts. Pittsburgh finished with nine penalties for 77 yards and also lost a fumble on a botched snap by C Mason Cole to QB Mitch Trubisky. That turnover led to RB James Conner’s first touchdown of the game.
Canada may be gone, but Pittsburgh still has plenty of issues on offense. You can say what you want in terms of the scheme and the play calling, but the shoddy execution by the players led to a missed touchdown on the goal line, a lost fumble lost in their own territory and numerous penalties to set them back behind the chains. The players need to take a long, hard look in the mirror — and do it quickly with a short week ahead of them as they play the New England Patriots on Thursday night. Canada may have been part of the problem concerning Pittsburgh’s offense, but those problems haven’t been solved by his departure.
