Opponent First Look: Pittsburgh Steelers at Green Bay Packers

Here's the story on the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have lost two in a row headed into Sunday's game at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – What does Week 1 of an NFL season mean?

The Green Bay Packers were crushed 38-3 in a neutral-field game against the New Orleans Saints while the Pittsburgh Steelers shocked the Buffalo Bills on the road 23-16.

So, to answer that question, perhaps nothing at all. With the Packers hosting the Steelers on Sunday, Green Bay has won two in a row – including an impressive victory at the San Francisco 49ers – while Pittsburgh is coming off back-to-back home losses to Las Vegas and Cincinnati.

“We're going to work and work with an edge,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday. “We understand where we are. We don't want to be here. We don't like it, but forget about not liking it – what are you going to do about it? That's what we're going to do about it. But we also realize that there's going to be a test at the end of the week that comes in Lambeau Field in the form of the Green Bay Packers. We’re working hard with an edge to get better, but we're also working hard with an edge to prepare ourselves for that challenge. That's a significant one.

“We're not going to push the panic button. What do I mean by the panic button? We're not going to dramatically change who and what we are at this juncture. We're not resistant to change for the purposes of getting better, but we're not going to be so unsteady that we move away from our compass, the identity that we worked hard to develop. We’ve got to get better schematically, we’ve got to get them better technically through skills relative to their positions, and we’ve got to be a smarter group.”

Statistically Speaking: First-Quarter Blues

Under second-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada – he held that job for Wisconsin in 2012 – the Steelers are 25th in total offense, ranking last in rushing per game (53.0) and per play (3.18). They haven’t scored a single point in the first quarter. In fact, 30 of their 50 points have come in the fourth quarter.

With coordinator Keith Butler directing a 3-4 scheme, Pittsburgh’s defense is 12th with 22.0 points allowed per game and 13th in total defense (354.7 yards per game). It is tough against the run (eighth with 3.58 yards per rush) and in the red zone (sixth with a 44.4 percent touchdown rate).

The Coach: Mike Tomlin

In his 15th season, Tomlin has a regular-season record of 146-80-1. He is closing in on a significant milestone. Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher is 20th in NFL history with 149 wins. Incredibly, Tomlin has never had a losing record. That 14-year streak is tied with Marty Schottenheimer for the longest of all-time. It took him 215 games to get win No. 140, tied with Curly Lambeau for third-fastest in NFL history behind Don Shula (185) and George Halas (210).

The Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger

Roethlisberger is Hall of Fame-bound. He won Super Bowls in 2005 and 2008 and got back to another in 2010, when he lost to Green Bay. In NFL history, he’s sixth in completions, seventh in yards and eighth in touchdowns. His next touchdown pass will be the 400th of his career. At age 39, he’s no longer a great quarterback. Of 33 qualifying quarterbacks, he’s 30th in passer rating (79.0), 25th in completion percentage (63.8) and 25th in yards per attempt (6.16). For his career, he’s averaged 7.67 per attempt, so that’s a significant slide.

The Skill Positions: RB Najee Harris

Pittsburgh used its first-round draft pick on Alabama running back Najee Harris. A bruising 230-pounder, he’s found no running room behind the Steelers’ suspect offensive line. He’s averaging a miserable 3.1 yards per carry. According to Pro Football Focus, 111 of his 123 rushing yards have come after contact. He’s been a weapon as a receiver, though, with a 25-yard touchdown vs. Las Vegas and 14 catches for 102 yards vs. Cincinnati.

Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson are the primary receivers and Eric Ebron is the tight end. Last year, those four players combined for 303 receptions, 3,158 yards and 31 touchdowns. Smith-Schuster is the youngest player in NFL history to reach 300 career receptions and 12 100-yard receiving games, Claypool scored nine touchdowns last year as a rookie, Johnson caught 88 passes last year and Ebron scored 13 touchdowns in 2018.

The Defense: T.J. Watt

There are stars at every level with defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, outside linebacker T.J. Watt, cornerback Joe Haden and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Oddly enough, this is the most hated story I've ever written.

With T.J. Watt coming to down, here's a reminder not only of what the #Packers missed out on in 2017 but the domino effect in terms of draft picks, free agency and the salary cap.https://t.co/okeqr2iVKM

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 29, 2021

Watt finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2019, when he had 14.5 sacks and a league-high eight forced fumbles, and second in 2020, when he had an NFL-best 15 sacks. Last season, he had 73 pressures – almost as many as Za’Darius Smith (51) and Preston Smith (26) combined, according to Pro Football Focus. He also broke up more passes (seven) than Kevin King (five). This season, he has three sacks and eight total pressures despite missing last week’s game with a groin injury, according to PFF.

Last season, the Steelers led the NFL in opponent passer rating at 76.7. Through three games this year, they’re 24th with a mark of 106.0.