Stephen A. Smith never holds back while expressing his opinions, especially when it comes to his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.
Appearing on ESPN’s “First Take” Monday morning following the 9-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the second week of the preseason, Smith was fired up and seeing red based off of what he saw on the field from the Black and Gold against the Bills.
Quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields both struggled in the passing game and weren’t protected all that well as the offensive line was a mess. The ground game wasn’t established, and third-year running back Jaylen Warren went down with a hamstring injury that will hinder him leading up to the season opener in Atlanta.
Based on everything Smith saw against the Bills, the Steelers have last place “written all over them” in the AFC North, in large part due to the offense and the struggles under center.
“Lemme tell you something right now. The Steelers looked awful offensively. They looked absolutely awful. I’m very, very disgusted with what I saw,” Smith said of the Steelers’ offense, according to video via ESPN. “Let’s get that out the way first. Secondly, I get where Shay-Shay [Shannon Sharpe] is coming from in terms of starting Russell Wilson. That was certainly my thought process. I’m not sure how sold I am on that right now. I understand he’s had the calf injury and stuff like that. I get that reality.
“But here’s what really resonates with me. I’m thinking about the fact that you took those three sacks. You’re still holding on the ball a little bit too long. Why are those things relevant? Because that’s why Sean Payton couldn’t stand them. That’s why Sean Payton ran him outta Denver.”
Yes, the Steelers’ offense was dreadful Saturday night against the Bills. Any time you muster just 3 points, you have a dreadful offensive performance, preseason or not.
But it’s very hard to evaluate the quarterback play when Wilson was under duress the entire night, and Fields was running for his life in an effort to try and make some things happen offensively.
All of the talk can focus on the quarterback situation as it might not be the answer the team needed at the position this offseason. That all remains to be seen. The bigger concern, though, is the offensive line, and particularly second-year offensive tackle Broderick Jones.
Jones was awful on Saturday night, allowing two sacks and multiple pressures. He’s playing with a bulky elbow brace on his right arm after suffering an injury on the first day of padded practices in training camp, which could be significantly hindering him. But he’s out there, and he needs to be better.
The entire offensive line needs to be better. Without that being a strength offensively, they aren’t going to be able to do much of anything under Arthur Smith.
Deep down, that has to be the bigger concern for Smith when it comes to the Steelers’ offense, not the quarterback. It’s easier to talk about the quarterback, though, which Stephen A. Smith continued to do.
“…I get all of that, but I’m looking at Russell Wilson and I’m saying, this is why the Denver Broncos didn’t want ’em. I don’t want to hear anything about the calf injury,” Smith added. “You still holding onto the ball too long? Yeah, that was the problem. And so I’m just looking at it from that standpoint, Shannon, and I’m not enthused. I know that the AFC North is no joke.
“…I don’t want to ever, and I’ve never said this before because I believe in Mike Tomlin so much, but the Steelers has got last place written all over them. Shay, they got last place written all over them. I don’t see how they get out of this.”
It’s worth a friendly reminder that the Steelers have not finished last in any division since 1988. They have had some bad teams in between then, but those bad teams didn’t have the talent level that this year’s roster has.
Yes, the AFC North is a lot better than it has been in years past, but the Steelers have had great success against division opponents year after year. They know how to play them and they know how to win games.
They know how to win games in general during the regular season, too.
It was ugly Saturday against the Bills, but a lesson should have been learned last year that the preseason doesn’t really matter, good or bad. But here we are again, overreacting one way rather strongly based on performance in the preseason.
