The performance from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium agains the Buffalo Bills was a very disappointing, ugly showing all around, especially offensively.
The offensive line was a disaster, particularly second-year pro Broderick Jones, who really struggled in pass protection allowing two sacks and multiple pressures in the first half. The rest of the offensive line couldn’t establish a run game, either, and really had a hard time against the Bills’ defensive front.
Those struggles up front made it very hard to evaluate the quarterbacks as Russell Wilson saw five series and generated just two first downs, while Justin Fields made some plays in the two-minute drill to close the half, leading to the only points of the game for the Steelers, before being under duress the entire second half.
For former NFL scout and current podcast host John Middlekauf, who appeared on the Colin Cowherd Podcast Sunday night, he is completely out on the Steelers and Mike Tomlin for the 2024 season following the performance against the Bills in the preseason, in large part due to QB struggles and the Steelers’ seemingly being unable to develop an offensive line — issues that the Steelers have had in recent seasons.
“I’m out this year. I think this is the year that it finally kind of comes to roost and they don’t go over .500,” Middlekauf said of the Steelers on Cowherd’s podcast, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “The offense, the offensive line was getting smoked. Russell’s [Wilson] a a shell of what he used to be, a guy that’s lost his confidence. Fields kind of is what he is.
“I mean it’s just, it’s carbon copy of what we saw last year.”
Nothing like overreacting to a preseason game.
That’s rather surprising coming from a former NFL scout, too. But I guess having hot takes is more important than making any sound logic behind a microphone.
Things were bad in the preseason loss to the Bills. The offensive line couldn’t protect the quarterbacks, things looked very bland overall offensively, and the run game was very inconsistent. It does seem like some of the issues that were there last season remain in place early this season, even with a bunch of new faces coming in.
But it’s important to remember that last preseason the Steelers looked like world beaters and were getting praised up and down by the national media. Then, they came out flat to start the season, especially offensively, and never really looked like they did in training camp and the preseason.
Ultimately, that led to Matt Canada getting fired ahead of Week 12, and saw Kenny Pickett never get his starting QB job back even after injury.
This offseason, the Steelers upgraded at QB with the likes of Wilson and Fields. They look much better on paper at the position than they have since the end of the Ben Roethlisberger Era.
Middlekauf isn’t having any of it though, especially after the performances Saturday against the Bills.
“They drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round. That was embarrassing. Like to me, this is embarrassing what they’re doing,” Middelkauf added. “They got Russell for a million dollars and traded nothing for Justin Fields. It’s kind of desperate. It’s cheap.”
“…They don’t know quarterbacks. They don’t know quarterbacks.”
It was certainly cheap, but it was efficient. They’re a team in transition, and they landed two experienced starting quarterbacks that fit what they want to do for less than $5 million and a conditional sixth-round draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
For some, cheap is bad. For Middlekauf, cheap is desperate. Yes, the Steelers were desperate to upgrade the QB position, and they did that without breaking the bank or selling the farm with draft picks to move up in the 2024 NFL Draft.
At the time, it was lauded, and rightfully so. But now, after just one game and five series from Wilson and another up and down performance in the preseason from Fields, it’s all over. Which, for Middlekauf, then extends to Tomlin and even GM Omar Khan, too.
“These two guys, this has got debacle written all over it,” Middlekauf added. “And listen, to me Tomlin, sometimes you just need a fresh start. He’s also being let down by like, the front office is drafting these players too, and they just had a front office turnover. Kevin Colbert, who is a scout’s scout, I would say is pretty good at his job. And they kind of pivoted to kind of this modern day, the cap guy. You know, I’m just…this is not gonna work.”
Time will tell. Khan and his ability to identify talent and acquire it, whether that’s via the draft, free agency or trades, isn’t the problem. He’s been lauded for his work in the draft, especially.
Middlekauf comes off as an old scout that doesn’t like the way the modern game is viewed and how teams are constructed.
But hey, he’s out on the Steelers in 2024 because of some preseason action. Remember this if he starts singing a different tune when the real games get underway.
