Thanks to a rather frustrating 27-24 loss on the road to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday in Week 4, in which their much-hyped defense couldn’t get necessary stops against Colts’backup quarterback Joe Flacco, the Pittsburgh Steelers fell a number of spots in multiple NFL power rankings.
After cracking the top 10 in most of the power rankings across the NFL media landscape, the Steelers fell outside of the top 10 in a majority of the power rankings entering Week 5 as questions about the defense loomed large following the surprising performance from the highly paid unit in Indianapolis.
The one power ranking where the Steelers didn’t fall out of the top 10 was at CBS Sports where Pete Prisco kept the Steelers at No. 9 entering Week 5.
The Steelers climbed as high as No. 5 last week, so they fell four spots in Prisco’s Week 5 power rankings.
“Justin Fields played well in the second half in defeat against Indianapolis, but it just wasn’t quite enough. The defense let them down in the loss to the Colts,” Prisco writes regarding the Steelers in the power rankings for CBSSports.com.
Justin Fields absolutely played well for the Steelers in Week 4. He shook off a tough start in which he took a couple of bad sacks and then had a major mistake on a third-down play in the third quarter, failing to get the football out hot against the blitz and then scrambling, losing 20 yards and fumbling the football away when the Steelers were in field-goal range.
After that fumble, Fields flipped a switch and was outstanding. He led the Steelers to three straight touchdown drives to drag them back into the game, making some big-time throws down the field and utilizing his legs in the red zone for two rushing touchdowns.
The fourth-year quarterback was quite good on the day. The same couldn’t be said for the defense, unfortunately.
In The Athletic’s power rankings from Josh Kendall, the Steelers fell two spots from No. 8 to No. 10 this week after the loss to the Colts, with the likes of the Washington Commanders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers passing them in the process.
For Kendall, this week’s power rankings looked at the rookies along their offensive line, which featured two starters on Sunday in center Zach Frazier and left guard Mason McCormick, who made his first career start for the Black and Gold.
“The Steelers drafted three offensive linemen in the first four rounds and all three have started at least one game after South Dakota State product Mason McCormick opened the game against the Colts. McCormick, Troy Fautanu (when he’s healthy again) and Zach Frazier could turn into one of the best single-year offensive line draft hauls in a long time,” Kendall writes. “Throw in the way quarterback Justin Fields is playing (312 passing yards, 55 rushing yards, three touchdowns Sunday), and the Steelers can feel OK despite their first loss of the season.”
Injuries are decimating the Steelers in the trenches, including first-round pick Troy Fautanu, but Frazier and McCormick have played well so far early in their career. Though Sunday was a bit of a tough showing for the offensive line — it struggled to create room for Najee Harris in the run game — the offensive line continues to jell overall, even with all the injuries, with James Daniels’ torn Achilles the latest.
Thanks to the rookies, things seem promising moving forward.
In ESPN’s power rankings, the Steelers fell five spots after the loss, dropping from No. 7 to No. 12. The Steelers were passed by the likes of the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Texans, and San Francisco 49ers.
The biggest concern for the Steelers coming out of the Week 4 loss for ESPN’s Brooke Pryor was the Steelers’ defense giving up so many chunk plays against the Colts.
“The Steelers gave up six passing plays of 15 yards or more to Indianapolis on Sunday — including four in the first half — after only allowing 12 such plays through the first three weeks,” Pryor writes for ESPN.com. “Prior to that Week 4 loss, the Steelers were limiting opponents to 8.6 points per game. But they yielded 27 points to the Colts by giving up large chunk plays.”
Chunk plays were a real issue, especially through the air, and it started right away as on the first play of the game Colts QB Anthony Richardson connected with wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. for a 32-yard gain as Steelers’ cornerback Joey Porter Jr. misplayed the ball just a bit, leading to the connection.
That was the start of the Colts hitting big plays in the passing game, and that continued even after Richardson exited the game in the first quarter with a hip injury. Prior to Week 4, the Steelers’ defense was downright dominant, and the likes of Porter and Donte Jackson were outstanding in coverage.
Things changed against the Colts, though, as they were more aggressive down the field, and it didn’t help that the Steelers’ pass rush simply couldn’t get home, giving both Colts’ QBs plenty of time in the passing game.
In NFL.com’s power rankings compiled by Eric Edholm, the Steelers fell one spot to No. 10.
“There will be a lot of quarterback talk this week because that remains a story until Mike Tomlin makes some sort of definitive longer-term call on Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. But the Steelers can look first at their defense as the reason they lost for the first time this season,” Edholm writes. “Two different Colts quarterbacks shredded them on Sunday, including Joe Flacco in his first action this season. Against a Steelers defense that was tops in the league in third-down performance, Flacco hit on six of eight passes for 72 yards and two TDs on money downs. The Colts converted eight of their 15 third downs on the day, including four on third-and-7 or longer.
“Fields was far more good than bad, although a disastrous sack-fumble cost Pittsburgh in the third quarter. That and a high snap were huge plays that prevented what could have been a huge comeback.”
As Edholm pointed out, there will be plenty of talk about the quarterback position this week for the Steelers. Russell Wilson is getting closer and closer to full health, and Justin Fields is coming off his best performance to date.
The focus should be on the defense having no answers for Anthony Richardson or Joe Flacco on Sunday, as well as the Steelers’ struggles to stop the run early in the game leading to them getting carved up and falling behind 17-0.
That was the most concerning part, and it was one that was completely unexpected, especially after the first three weeks of the season in which the Steelers were drawing comparisons to the Steel Curtain of old.
But it happened, and now the Steelers are back to the drawing board at 3-1 on the season and preparing for a Sunday Night Football showdown against the Dallas Cowboys at Acrisure Stadium.
