Following each game in the 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers season I will once again be giving you my 10 takes, including from the 21-14 win over the New England Patriots today. These aren’t going to be hot takes that are meant to shock the world. This will be instant reactions to the game 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 3 vs New England Patriots
1. Gift Basket – For the “it’s still a win” crowd, you are correct. To be completely dominated for almost the entire game and come away with a road win in the conference is a positive. But the stench coming off this game on both sides of the ball is harrowing. I think the Steelers’ offense owes a thank you to a defense that forced five turnovers and had five sacks. The defense was not great by any means, but it did make some timely plays. On to Ireland.
2. Arthur Lost His Mojo – For the deserving praise that Arthur Smith got for his play calling after Week 1, he deserves all the condemnation the last two week. We know he loves multiple tight ends, but it hasn’t worked at all. The opposing defenses play a two-deep coverage and no one on this team can get open. I counted 11 throws behind the line of scrimmage. They only threw it 23 times. The running game is a mess. Jaylen Warren averaged 2.6 yards per carry and, sadly, it actually looked good. The Steelers’ bye is coming up after Week 4 and there needs to be a heart-to-heart on the effectiveness of this offensive scheme.
3. Coordinators Should Be Able to Coordinate – I don’t know who is calling the defense. It could be the defensive coordinator, Teryl Austin, as his job title implies. It could be Mike Tomlin, as many people commonly believe. Whoever it is, needs to have this role taken away. Someone else needs to give it a try. Week after week after week after week there are receivers open all over the field. The middle of the field is easy pickings for the opposition. There was no contain by edge defenders, allowing Drake Maye to scramble at will. The team has been outgained 1,176 yards to 741 yards. A 435-yard difference through three games.
4. Maladaptation – The sign of a good team is the ability to adapt to the situations. Halftime is a great time to make changes to counter what you have seen in the first half. The Steelers have had gotten the opening drive in the third quarter every week so far. The results are three and out with a punt, six plays for 19 yards and a punt and three plays with the final play being and interception. Just another sign of the offense’s lack of effectiveness.
5. So Maybe Preseason Does Mean Something – Teams usually give some playing time to their starters in the final two preseason games. This season the Steelers decided to not play a lot of their veterans at all in the preseason. In the first two games, many of these veterans did not play like their history.
It is interesting that in the third game (which would be their first game if they played in the preseason) that the likes of Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt finally played up to their levels. Heyward with six tackles and a sack that prevented a touchdown with a pass deflection. Watt with two sacks and two tackles for a loss. Maybe a little time in the preseason wouldn’t hurt.
6. Harmonic Addition – Welcome to the NFL, Derrick Harmon. Coming back from a preseason injury, he made his presence felt right away, chasing down a screen pass and then registering his first career sack in the first quarter. He also added a tackle for a loss and looked like he fit in immediately. His addition doesn’t guarantee anything for this defense but getting one player back from injury definitely seemed to help a touch. I’ll mention Daniel Ekuale here as well. He had a couple of nice run stops.
7. Sack Assist – This is nomination for a new statistical category. The sack assist. For the player who forces the quarterback to alter his plan and leads to a teammate making the sack. I don’t know if it was all him, but it sure felt like Nick Herbig was in the backfield for most of the game and at least one of his rushes forced Maye to step up into a sack. Herbig’s motor is relentless. He wins against even some of the best offensive tackles. The dude disrupts opposing offenses on a weekly basis.
8. Stir of Echols – Essentially an unheralded offseason signing compared to some of his counterparts, Brandin Echols was there to make plays today. Getting the interception off a Heyward tipped pass saved what could have been a backbreaking touchdown. And on the Patriots’ final offensive play, he made a quick tackle to stop New England on fourth down. He’s not a big name on this defense but with those two plays and six total tackles he stepped up when it was needed.
9. What Are They Waiting For? – We all know the Steelers’ third-down defense has been terrible. I wrote about that last week. The fourth-down defense is even worse. But here is my question. On third and long plays, the opponent makes a throw underneath. The Steelers defenders, instead of attacking toward the ball, they freeze. They allow the pass catcher to get five, eight, 10 yards before they make contact. I understand they try to play under control in that situation to not allow a big play. But by playing that much under control, they are allowing a big play.
Teams are not afraid of the Steelers’ defense. Third and long means nothing. The entire defense needs to turn up the aggressiveness.
10. Yeah, We Sawyer – Danny Smith must have gotten on the special teams players. After allowing 29.4 and 26.6 yards per return in the first two games that number improved in Week 3. The Steelers allowed 23.5 versus New England and Jack Sawyer was a big part of that. He made a tackle on the opening kickoff with Miles Killebrew. He added another stop after a punt in the third quarter. And one more time on a kickoff after the Steelers’ go-ahead touchdown.
Good to see the production early in the season.
