The Pittsburgh Steelers are 2-0 and have a chance to improve to 3-0 if they can knock off the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Still, not everything is perfect. The defense has been impressive. Yet, the offensive side of the ball has left a little bit to be desired, with penalties being a leading issue for the unit.
It is true that the Steelers’ offense has limited their mistakes in terms of turnovers. They’ve managed themselves well enough to let the defense help them along to some wins to begin the season. It is also true that the offense could stand to get a bit more momentum going for themselves.
Fortunately, Steelers WR George Pickens feels that the unit is nearing a breakthrough, as he said to Yarbarker’s Aaron Becker:
Pickens has done his part through two games. The wideout has eight receptions, which he’s turned into 114 yards, good enough for a solid 14.3 yards per reception. Still, though, the stat sheet doesn’t necessarily show the full impact he’s had.
Pickens had an excellent, long reception in Week 2 wiped away by a holding penalty. He had a similar deep reception in Week 1 that was negated via a questionable offensive pass interference call.
The team’s lack of discipline was so apparent against Denver that the team brought officials to practice this week to crack down on penalties.
As Pickens alludes to, penalties have hurt the Steelers. Pickens wasn’t the only one to have some of his efforts negated against the Broncos last week. Penalties halted the Steelers’ momentum several times during their close win against Denver. If it wasn’t for the defense keeping the Broncos quiet throughout the game, the Steelers might not have their current undefeated record.
Pittsburgh’s offense has many new pieces at the moment. Denver played a solid defensive game as well. Still, if Pittsburgh wants to be considered true playoff contenders, it can be argued that they should have handled the Broncos a bit easier than they did.
The Los Angeles Chargers are looming in Week 3. With an undefeated record, the Steelers will have a tough test ahead of them this weekend. While the Steelers seem to be slight favorites, Los Angeles is 2-0 for a reason. If Pittsburgh wants to advance to 3-0, they’ll need to play a much cleaner version of football than they did against Denver.
