With two impressive season-opening victories notched into their young 2024 belt, the Pittsburgh Steelers head home to discover themselves looking in the mirror.
They are seeing a mirror-like image of themselves in the Los Angeles Chargers, who are equally exceeding preseason expectations and who also have been winning close games by limiting mistakes, playing a pressurized defense, and leaning on their running game.
The Steelers also hope quarterback Justin Fields will take another step forward in seizing his opportunity and leave the quarterback controversy in the rear-view mirror. A 3-0 start by the Chicago outcast should be enough to put that tomato, pickle, and mustard on the hotdog.
If they lose, the Steelers will look in a mirror, asking themselves, “Who am I really?” That is, if they can’t defeat a not-terribly-frightening Chargers team that finished last year 5-12 and who lost key (albeit aging) offensive weapons like RB Austin Ekeler and WR Keenan Allen.
This is the Jackson Browne game of the week in the National Football League because one of these two upstart teams will be labeled “The Pretender” while the other will be able to “Stay” on the narrowing list of the undefeated.
These days…early wins are a heavy load out for a long season and a critical way to fill the momentum tank, as no team can afford to ever be running on empty.
Will the Steelers continue to Bolt away from their divisional competition?
Let’s give it a Spin.
Line Dancing
Perhaps the most wishy-washy of Coach Mike Tomlin’s decisions last week was to create a playing rotation between his dueling first-round draft pick offensive tackles Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu. Jones responded by saying, “No, thank you, coach, let Troy have my spot,” by racking up a season’s worth of penalty yards in a single drive. Through no merit of his own, Jones may get the position all his own this weekend as Fautanu, who played great, is struggling with a knee injury.
Yet, the larger headline for the Steelers is that they can afford to rotate two of their most recent first-rounders in the same position. This is because veteran Dan Moore Jr. is stubbornly holding onto the left tackle spot by securing his job the old-fashioned way…by earning it.
They are already tailoring a yellow jacket for rookie sensation center Zach Frazier, and guard James Daniels is playing more than solidly. Spencer Anderson is doing a decent job as well, considering his inexperience. Add to this scenario the good news that arguably the team’s best offensive lineman, guard Isaac Seumalo, should be recovered enough from his injury to join the team next week.
In other words, after years of being blamed as a team weakness, this Steelers offensive line is on a sharp ascendancy and positionally deep.
Sure…Jones needs to find himself again, but once he does, and he will, you’ll see this team putting in three tackle formations just to keep all of the line dancers happy.
True Test
In dissecting the Steelers’ early defensive success, as indicated by an admittedly small sample size, a few highlights stand out.
Overall, the team is ranked fifth in terms of yardage per game allowed. They are tied for second in takeaways with five, most of those coming from timely interceptions.
As far as pass defense is concerned, they are only fair to midlands, and this is coming against two mediocre offensive teams, the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos.
What is impressive is they are tied for third in terms of rushing yardage allowed, and this comes with both the Falcons and Broncos wanting to lean on the run.
The Steelers’ 76.5 rushing yards per game allowed matches the numbers provided by their impressive defenses in their last Super Bowl run.
If they can manage to make this a consistent performance rather than just a mirage, it bodes well for a team that could benefit from making its opponents one-sided on offense.
With a killer pass-rushing tandem of T.J. Watts and Alex Highsmith, coupled with a growingly ball-hawking secondary, this defense could excel with its ears pinned back.
But, to reach a level of dominance, they must be able to stop the run.
This is the true test the Los Angeles Chargers will bring to town. Coached by Jim Harbaugh, featuring a talented offensive line, and led by a resurgent J.K. Dobbins, it’s no surprise they are ranked second in the league in rushing.
With the Chargers quarterbacked by either Justin Herbert with a high ankle sprain or some dude named Easton Stick (which sounds more like a baseball bat) as his replacement, you can count on Los Angeles to be mostly handing the ball off this Sunday.
Here are your Cliff Notes for the game: The Chargers rushing game versus the Steelers run defense.
The winner of this battle of wills should be evident by the end of the first quarter, so keep your eyes in the pits.
The Calvary
So far, the Steelers’ passing game has consisted of a scrambling Justin Fields and a batch of impressive George Pickens catches.
For the Steelers to get far this season, someone else must step it up.
Although his numbers were conservative at best, Fields made several impressive throws last Sunday, providing new hope he can possibly use his arm as well as his legs.
Yet, there isn’t a team in the NFL that can thrive with only one star receiver. This team is increasingly looking like they have a Brandon Aiyuk-sized hole. Or is there an emerging star in this season-long story who has yet to shine?
Calvin Austin III? Pat Freiermuth? Scotty Miller? Cordarrelle Patterson? Darnell Washington? Roman Wilson?
Not exactly a Who’s Who yet. So, who is ready to step into the limelight?
Been Caught Steeling
It is a fair argument to question the legitimacy of the Steelers’ start to the season. 2-0 is no big shakes, but your grass can look pretty green when your neighbors’ lawns display a deep brown shade.
The Steelers’ chief division rivals in the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals, each have a chance of being 0-3 at the conclusion of this week’s games.
The Ravens have the most probable chance of completely throwing off a tire early on in their season, as they have a difficult game against the Dallas Cowboys in hostile territory. The Cowboys should be poised to rebound at home after their disappointing performance against the New Orleans Saints last week.
If the Cowboys were to lose, the discussion between Jerry Jones (after all that cash he threw down) and his beleaguered head coach, Mike McCarthy, might end up looking like a Jane’s Addiction concert.
The Bengals and the Cleveland Browns have relative layups against the Washington Commanders and New York Giants, respectively, yet both will be feeling the pressure to perform.
The Steelers may not have a layup this Sunday, but they do need to make their free throws in a home game against what should, at best, be considered a mid-tier opponent.
Is it true that there must be some magic in this old top hat of a season, or will the Steelers merely be left to pick the pockets of their divisional foes’ woes?
Steelers Nation likes its football decided in the trenches, so this game should give all of us a real charge.
