Following each game in the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers season, I will highlight the event or string of events in the game that was the turning point. Not all turning points will be earth-shattering but are meant to give a unique look at how we arrived at the outcome of the game, one that may be hard to see during the live watch.
The Steelers were having a hard enough time stopping Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs’ passing defense, but there were a few instances throughout the game where there were opportunities to get off the field and keep the ball out of the two-time NFL MVP’s hands.
One was a deflected pass that Patrick Queen failed to haul in for an interception. Another was the forced fumble on the punt return that took an unfortunate bounce before being recovered by the Chiefs. But it goes beyond the failed takeaways that have eluded the Steelers for a few weeks now. They weren’t getting off the field as a defense in the few opportunities where the Chiefs made mistakes to put them behind the chains.
The worst sequence of the game for the Steelers was the final drive of the third quarter and the first two drives of the fourth quarter. That eight-minute stretch of the game saw the Steelers’ chances of winning plummet to nearly zero according to ESPN’s win probability calculator.
The Chiefs scored on each of their drives while Pat Freiermuth made a rare mistake, fumbling the football on what would have been a three-and-out drive anyways During that span, the Chiefs ran 15 plays without getting to third down a single time.
Pittsburgh can barely advance the ball without using all three downs while the Chiefs walked down the field without needing one at all. They ran eight first-down plays and seven second-down plays across the two scoring drives while marching a total of 111 yards.
The closest the Steelers got to forcing a third down and possibly getting off the field came at the very beginning of the whole sequence. An offensive holding call on WR JuJu Smith-Schuster forced the Chiefs to start the drive with a 1st and 16.
After gaining seven yards to make it 2nd and 9, there was a false start to back them up once again. The Steelers did not capitalize on this opportunity and allowed a 17-yard completion to Marquise Brown on a slant route. The Chiefs got the ball out quick to negate the pass rush and the coverage was not properly set up to defend that type of concept.
The Steelers had both inside linebackers showing blitz at the line of scrimmage. Payton Wilson, who was closer to the play, ended up blitzing while Queen dropped back into coverage. There was no way he was getting there in time based on where he lined up before the snap and it was an easy 17-yard completion to Brown. Great concept and execution by the Chiefs.
Failing to take advantage of 11 penalty yards to even force a third-down opportunity is really rough for the Steelers’ defense.
The offense only scored 10 points, but the defense continues to be the biggest disappointment in Pittsburgh.
