Flavell's Five Thoughts: Steelers Have Another Week of QB Decisions

The Pittsburgh Steelers have decisions to make after Week 2.

Cody Flavell | Sep 16, 2024

Sep 8, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields (2) celebrates after a victory over the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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Pittsburgh Steelers

If you were to ask me to surmise the first two games of the Pittsburgh Steelers' season, I would do so by saying this: They don't ask how. They ask how many.

Through two games, the Pittsburgh Steelers sit atop the AFC North with a 2-0 record, the only team in the division to do so. It was clear from the outset of the season that Pittsburgh needed to get out to a hot start with the backend of their schedule beong as daunting as it is. Record-wise, they've done that.

The defense is very much to thank for that early season undefeated record. They have allowed a whopping 16 points through two games and are doing just about everything you want an elite defense to do. Whether it is getting to the quarterback or forcing turnovers, the Steelers' defense is thriving.

The offense? Well, through two games they've got one touchdown. They moved the ball well in Atlanta last week and that was encouraging despite needing six field goals to beat the Falcons. In Denver, an encouraging first half saw 13 points but was derailed by an undisciplined, penalty-filled second half.

There is no doubt that unit has to be better. There has been a lot of ugly offensive football in the past six years in Pittsburgh but this game ranked high on that list in terms of efficiency. On 39 offensive plays in the second half, the Steelers gained just 60 yards, an average of just 1.53 yards/play. That is borderline worse than Matt Canada's offense.

Let's dive more in-depth into the game's positives and negatives, shall we?

Praising the defense yet again

Mike Tomlin has a history of eating rookie quarterbacks alive in his career. Credit to him and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin for their gameplan. Until the late stages of the game when the Steelers defense began playing more conservative and keeping the play in front of them, Bo Nix and company didn't have much of an answer.

Nix's pass catchers dropped a few passes and his offensive line didn't give him a whole lot of time to throw. He also missed a handful of deep balls and his 246 yards passing were largely gained in the latter stages of the game.

Nix threw a crucial pick in the end zone on a great play by Corey Trice who picked up his first NFL interception. He missed Marvin Mims on a deep ball where Mims had his man beat but Nix threw the ball out of bounds and gave Mims no chance to catch it.

At the end of the day, the Steelers exposed the Broncos' offense's deficiencies and held the Broncos to two field goals. That is the I'mportant part.

DeShon Elliott stood out again in week 2 by leading the team in tackles and making a huge stop on a third and short to force a Broncos punt. T.J. Watt picked up his weekly sack. Alex Highsmith added another and posted two tackles for a loss as well. Trice's interception was one of two on the day as Demontae Kazee picked up a stat-boosting interception on the final play of the game.

Self-inflicted mistakes stall offense

Justin Fields has proven to be quite the deep ball thrower through the season's first two weeks. Just about every deep ball has been right on the money. Unfortunately, two of his best throws have been called back by penalties.

An offensive pass interference on Van Jefferson ripped an acrobatic George Pickens touchdown off the board. Countless holding penalties found offensive tackle Broderick Jones riding the pine by the end of the football game. Those penalties added up to a final total of 10 infractions for 78 yards. Early season warts are going to happen. They can't happen this frequently.

Fields and center Zach Frazier had another miscommunication, this time on a shotgun snap, that nearly saw the Steelers give the ball back to Denver late in a close game. This has been a common theme clear back into training camp. More self-inflicted mistakes.

The offense went 4-for-13 on third down and were given five first downs off of Denver Broncos penalties. They were given a few gifts and couldn't capitalize whatsoever outside of the early touchdown drive.

Simply put, the Steelers have to clean it up on this side of the ball. The coordinator is new and so there is an adjustment period, especially opening the season with two games away from home. A game at Acrisure Stadium should provide a little bit of help next weekend.

How about some offensive positivity?

While it was ugly, things weren't bad for every member of the Steelers' offense in week 2.

Najee Harris has been notorious for opening the season rather slow before finding his gear around mid-season and riding that to the end. He's been solid to open the year. Harris has 139 rushing yards to open the season. While some guys posted that total just in week one, a graphic displayed during the game showed that Harris averages less than 50 yards/game in the month of September so this is an encouraging start.

George Pickens has looked the part of a number one reciever in the NFL and this game was no different. The stat two receptions for 29 yards stat line that he posted doesn't show the effect he had on the game. Pickens drew multiple pass interferences on one of the league's best cornerbacks in Patrick Surtain III.

Jaylen Warren averaged nearly five yards a carry and hauled in two passes for 19 yards. Darnell Washington caught his first NFL touchdown. Pat Freiermuth caught all four of his team-leading four targets.

While the offensive statistics may not show it, there were a few positives to come out of this game.

Sean Payton's questionable decisions

It felt like the Steelers had the game won early simply with the lack of movement from the Broncos' offense and the Steelers' early score. However, some of Payton's decision-making in the game should leave lots left to be desired for Broncos faithful.

The decision to kick the field goal in the fourth quarter when they hadn't been able to get into the red zone much at all throughout the day was interesting. Facing a 13-point deficit, you would've needed to score twice regardless of punching the ball into the end zone or failing to convert on fourth down.

Later on, following the second field goal, Payton decided to kick the ball away with less than two minutes left in the game as opposed to attempting your hand at an onside kick.

The new kick rules certainly make onside kicks way harder to get now. However, with one timeout, the likelihood of winning the game was going to be similar either way. After making the stop on defense, they still only had time to run two offensive plays before the final buzzer sounded.

Payton's decisions felt very inept and while they may not have directly lost them the game, he certainly didn't make it any easier on his team to comeback and win it either.

Another week of QB debates

Fields looked well on his way to claiming the QB1 job by blowing out the Broncos and taking a hold of the position regardless of Russell Wilson's health. Instead, an ugly second half certainly leaves the door open for the Steelers to pivot back to Wilson despite Fields' 2-0 record as the starter.

A lot of people will point to Kenny Pickett's winning record as a starter despite his lack of actual good play. That isn't the case with Fields. He's got the legs and the deep ball to run a successful offense but penalties and a bit of an adjustment period with a new coordinator are some early season issues that need ironed out.

Tomlin and Co. may go to Wilson for next week simply just to see what they could be with him. They got two bonus games out of Fields they weren't planning on seeing quite yet once they named Wilson as the QB1. He's shown that he can be an NFL quarterback but there is no doubt he still shows some of the signs that got him booted out of Chicago including his penchant for waiting to long to make a play and taking a sack.

After starting 2-0, the Steelers should consider riding the guy that got them to that point but there is obviously a reason they went with Russ over Fields as the QB1 in the first place. So, for a third week in a row, we'll be monitoring the division of labor in practice and probably won't know much until late in the week as to who will start at quarterback for Pittsburgh in week 3.

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Published Sep 16, 2024

CODY FLAVELL