Following each game in the 2024 Steelers season I will once again be giving you my 10 takes. These aren’t going to be hot takes that are meant to shock the world. They will be instant reactions written while still in that period just following the game when the emotions are high, and the ideas are fresh. Included will be thoughts, observations, queries, and reasons that caused me to yell at the television.
Regular Season Week 12 vs Cleveland Browns
1. Where Do I Begin? – This one had that pit-in-the stomach feeling from the start. As soon as Chris Boswell missed that field goal, I felt it wasn’t going to be a good night. There seemed to be a litany of mistakes and puzzling decisions made throughout this game. Another slow start by the offense. In a game that didn’t have a lot of flags, the ones called against Pittsburgh seemed to hurt. Short-yardage woes and the inability to get a first down when they need it most. I guess if you’re going to screw it up, screw it up all the way.
2. Herby Birthday! – For a moment, it looked like Nick Herbig was going to save the day again. On a night when the pass rush was nonexistent even before the snow started, this play provided a much-needed spark. A sack with a forced fumble gave the Steelers a short field, ultimately helping them erase the deficit. His third forced fumble this season and second in two weeks. I thought that would be the turning point to victory and a nice birthday present for him.
3. Ten Damn Yards – Really that is all they needed to lock away the game. After a gifted interception from Jameis Winston to Donte Jackson it looked like the Steelers could get one first down and they’d be able to run out the clock or at least most of it. After two three-yard gains they brought in Justin Fields on third and four. Is he the right choice in that situation, especially to throw his first official pass of the game (and earlier incompletion was negated by a roughing the passer penalty on Cleveland)?
In short yardage it would make more sense despite them botching it multiple times earlier in the game. Needing four yards, I think Russell Wilson throwing the ball was the best option. The Steelers only took 53 seconds off the clock after the turnover. Not ideal.
4. Failed Mary – What are they doing on this play? It’s not even a long attempt from the 35-yard line. There were four Steelers players technically in the area. Not one of them was in a position to make a play on the ball. Not one of them even jumped for the ball. To not have George Pickens, Mike Williams or Pat Freiermuth, who are all rather good at contested catches, making any effort on the ball is embarrassing. It’s a long shot to complete it but at least try to complete it.
5. Timeout Training – What should have been the first question at the press conference: “Coach Tomlin. Why are you comfortable letting 35-40 seconds run off the clock when you’re going to get the ball back before the end of the first half?” He did it last week and did it again this week. He had two timeouts to use. Called the first before third down with 1:27 left on the clock. Cleveland ran a play, and he could have called his last timeout with 1:20 left on the clock. You have a veteran quarterback who can run the offense with 80 seconds.
After the kickoff, the ball was at the 30. You only need 30 yards to get into field-goal range. The only thing I can come up with is he’s still worried the offense will screw it up. Instead of showing some trust with no timeouts and 80 seconds, he would rather give his offense 40 and one timeout and then ultimately take that timeout to the locker room with him.
6. More Harm Than Good – Connor Heyward is a solid special team player but, on the offense, he is hurting more than helping. He had another false start, his third this year. Last week he had one after the Ravens’ defense had just given them five yards. He had an illegal formation penalty, his second this season. They use him at fullback but he’s not a great blocker. Kirk Herbstreit gave him credit for a good block on the long Justin Fields run but he barely got a hand on the defender. He has gained 29 yards on offense this season and has accumulated 35 yards of penalties.
7. Coming Up Short – Man the offense struggled on short yardage again. Third and one, false start. Fourth and two, lost two. Fourth and one, lost one. Third and one, lost one. They finally threw it on a fourth and one and gained nine. What is the problem here? Are you telling me Cleveland’s defense was that much better than the Steelers’ offense? To get on one yard?
Add the two-point play, a fade to Cordarrelle Patterson, and it looks like Arthur Smith has a short-yardage problem. The running plays were so slow to develop, giving Cleveland a chance to get in the backfield.
8. Myles to Go – The team has watched T.J. Watt get chipped, double teamed, triple teamed and held all season. There is a ton of traffic for him to navigate. After seeing that all season, why do you not give Myles Garrett the same treatment? Why do you allow him to get three sacks? He should have been facing multiple blockers on every passing down. No one on that line is capable of blocking him one-on-one for the entire game.
9. Splashing Through the Snow – Visually, it doesn’t get much better than a division game in the snow. And while the field and the play became sloppier as the game progressed, there were some bright spots to the offense. I counted eight plays where the Steelers gained at least 15 yards. And six of those plays went for 22 yards or more. A slushy field can make coverage more difficult, but it was nice to see the offense make a bunch of big plays.
I still would have preferred that late first down but what are you going to do?
10. Where They Stand – Heading into a mini bye week the team is 8-3. The losses seem bad, losing to Indianapolis, Dallas, and Cleveland. The Steelers also beat some bad teams like the Raiders, Jets and Giants. Additionally, they have wins against Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, Washington, and Baltimore. all of which have winning records.
What does that mean? It’s hard to win in the NFL against good or bad teams. At this point, this team is better than I expected with plenty of room to be even better. Six games left to focus on the positive, hope they fix the negative and finish the season strong. Here we go.
