Flavell's Five Thoughts: Steelers Open WR2 Debate

The Pittsburgh Steelers have not one, but a few new names to watch.

Sep 22, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III (19) celebrates a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-0 after three weeks and the sky seems to be the limit right now. Justin Fields took another step towards cementing his spot as QB1 regardless of Russell Wilson's status. The defense, now allowing 8.7 points per game through three weeks stifled the Los Angeles Chargers' offense to a paltry -5 yards in the second half.

Despite only scoring 20 points, this felt like the most impressive game of the three on offense for Pittsburgh. The Chargers shut them down in the running game until the final drive when Cordarelle Patterson and Najee Harris toted the rock and demoralized the Chargers' defense by pushing the ball all the way to the one-yard line and kneeling out the victory.

Fields made a handful of plays with his arm and passed for over 200 yards for the first time in the black and gold uniform. The 25-year old was dotting his receivers all afternoon and was the victim of a few bad drops that would've seen him pick up even more yards. Even Fields' first interception of the season was not his fault.

With plenty to talk about following the Steelers' 20-10 win against the Chargers, let's get to it.

Steelers Taking Care of Early-Season Business

A lot was made about the Steelers' daunting backend portion of the schedule when the league released the schedules in the offseason. Every single one of the Steelers' AFC North ballgames comes in week 11 or thereafter. They also have games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadephia Eagles on that side of the docket too.

They knew a hot start was going to be paramount to not have to run the table at the end of the season just to sneak into the playoffs. They're doing exactly what they've needed to do so far and that alone deserves a lot of credit.

Mike Tomlin has been known for winning the tough games often but also allowing his teams to fall in games they're heavily favored in. In heading to Indianapolis this coming weekend, they are facing a struggling quarterback in Anthony Richardson and a team they are certainly capable of beating. They need to be able to win that game, get out to 4-0 and head into the following weekend's Sunday Night Football matchup with the Dallas Cowboys riding high.

Tomlin deserves credit for how he has handled things in the early going. He is pushing all the right buttons. He's certainly been in Fields' ear telling him that he needs to be less like Superman and more like the conservative signal-caller he's been so far. He's a defensive head coach and his team's defense is the best in the NFL right now.

It might take the Steelers sitting at 6-2 heading into the bye week to truly feel comfortable about their standing going into the back half of the schedule. Good on them for getting out to the fast start.

Seriously, Though, How Good is This Defense?

Copy and paste. This is the third week in a row I am making this point about the defense but they keep racheting up the expectations by the week. I think the Steelers' defense was criminally underrated heading into the season. Local people seemed to know how good they would be but the national media didn't give them their rightful credit.

They added Patrick Queen to a position that was one of their lone gaping holes on defense in the offseason. DeShon Elliott has been a massive contributor so far in the secondary allowing Minkah Fitzpatrick to do his thing. Make no mistake that just because Fitzpatrick has yet to force an interception, a lot of the reason the Steelers' defense is this effective is because he's roaming around in that defensive backfield.

T.J. Watt got his weekly sack and Nick Herbig had his coming out game with Alex Highsmith sidelined due to injury. Three-legit star pass rushers deep on the edge of the defensive line with Cam Heyward still playing at a high-level too? It's not fair.

I still don't think we've seen Queen play his best football. Joey Porter Jr. hasn't even really been challenged yet because teams are refusing to throw his way. He's also shown some improvement in being able to tackle. Un-drafted rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop's name isn't being said much which, in his case, is a really good thing.

There is still a chance this defense gets even better over the next 14 weeks of football and that is a scary thought for the rest of the AFC.

WR2 Debate?

By default, Van Jefferson came into the season as the WR2 because the Steelers didn't have anyone else that they could truly rely upon. The other options were guys who were unproven or also new to the offense. In week 3, a few guys stood out in ways they otherwise hadn't in the early going.

Calvin Austin III showed off that open field speed on the 55 yard touchdown that sealed the deal for the Steelers. He caught a slant over the middle on an absolute dime by Fields between two defenders and turned on the afterburners to score. He added another 40 yards on four total catches for his best game of his young career.

Scotty Miller made a few big catches that moved the chains on third down and helped not stall drives. He finished with two catches for 31 yards. The overall stat line won't wow anyone but they were two big catches and it showed he can be relied on when called upon.

While neither is a wide out, Cordarelle Patterson and Pat Freiermuth both put together nice games in their own right while George Pickens did his usual thing.

Jefferson hasn't done much in the early going for the Steelers. Austin's touchdown and Miller's drive-saving catches yesterday may earn both guys more playing time going forward especially if they prove to have a solid rapport with Fields.

Frazier Was Great But The Rest of The O-Line...

Zach Frazier may turn out to be the steal of the draft for the Steelers. Nate Herbig was supposed to start the season as the starting center but he suffered a season-ending injury and swung the door wide-open for Frazier. Frazier took that opportunity and has pushed - quite literally - his way into the role for the forseeable future.

The rookie second-round pick has been a force in the middle of the Steelers' offensive line. He is pushing defenders miles down the field on run plays but he is about the only offensive lineman who is consistently doing do through three weeks.

Spencer Anderson found himself being rotated in and out of the lineup with rookie guard Mason McCormick. Broderick Jones was benched prior to this week but regained a full-time starting spot due to the injury of rookie first-rounder Troy Fautanu. Dan Moore Jr. has been fine but not spectacular. That's all you can really ask from him.

There is no doubt the Steelers' line has been gashed by injuries early on. Isaac Seumalo has yet to play a game. Fautanu was just placed on IR and it's uncertain if/when he'll return. Herbig's injury has been covered pretty well by Frazier but that still puts the Steelers down three opening game starters.

If the run game can actually open up for the Steelers going forward and the line gels, that is only another reason why they can be a real threat in the AFC and not just an early season mirage.

Shades of 2020 or The Real Thing?

2020 was quite the beginning of the season for the Steelers. They started 11-0 for the first time in franchise history. It's nearly impossible to do that in the NFL these days because of the talent around the league. But all throughout it, there just seemed to be this feeling that a collapse could come at any time. It did and the Steelers lost in the playoffs at home to the Cleveland Browns 48-37.

Ben Roethlisberger seemed to be on his last leg. The defense was good but worn down because the Steelers were winning all through a unit that was tired by seasons' end because they spent way too much time on the field.

This team is in a similar spot except the defense is much more rested because the offense is trying to kill clock and lengthen drives and punish the opposing defense all the way down the field to the end zone.

This defense is better than that one in my opinion and the offensive situation seems far less settled. They still don't "officially" know their QB1 from their QB2 and they don't have the greatest wide receiver room.

I doubt the Steelers will get to 11-0 again this season but they finished that season 12-4. Granted there is now an extra game than there was in 2020 but there is at least reason to believe that they can get to the 12-win mark again after the 3-0 start. They'd have to go 9-5 the rest of the way but that task isn't as tall when you look at the remaining opponents before the bye week.

They certainly need to keep the foot on the gas and win next week to continue setting themselves up for the late season gauntlet. Another positive: regardless of the outcome of the Cincinnati Bengals' game on Monday night, the Steelers go into week 4 with a two-game cushion on every other team in the AFC North. That's big news.

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