There were pretty much no positives for the Pittsburgh Steelers in a rough Week 1 showing against the San Francisco 49ers. The franchise had not hosted a home opener in the first week of the season since 2014 and after a 30-7 loss, it may not be a bad idea to desire a road game in 2024. TJ Watt did what he always does and wreaked havoc on an opposing offense, but other than that, there was not too much good to take out of the defeat. All three phases of the game had no chance at hanging around with the 49ers.
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Steelers Head Coach, Mike Tomlin stands on the field at St. Vincent College during a 2023 training camp practice in Latrobe, PA. | Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers Get Beat In All Three Phases Of The Game Versus 49ers
The offense led by a visibly-rattled Kenny Pickett only was able to collect 239 total yards, with 95 of them being picked up on one drive at the end of the second half. The defense was blown out of the water. Besides Watt, no one was necessarily at the top of their game and it showed. Brock Purdy picked apart the Steelers defense and San Francisco ran the ball efficiently and effectively.
When you take a look at the special teams unit, Anthony McFarland Jr. did take advantage of a less-than-impressive 49ers kickoff team. It was a clear advantage heading into the game and at one point, San Francisco was directly kicking away from the third-string running back. The punt team was put back to work as has usually been the case with Matt Canada leading the offense.
After the Steelers went three-and-out on their first offensive drive of 2023, Pressley Harvin III came onto the field after winning the punting battle over Braden Mann. The first punt of the year may have foreshadowed how the rest of the day was going to go. It only went 34 yards and put a dynamic 49ers offense in a perfect position to quickly go down the field and score.
Steelers punter, Pressley Harvin III (#6) stands on the field at Acrisure Stadium prior to a 2022 regular season matchup against the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh, PA. | Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: JSKO_PHOTO)
His next two punts were rather solid at a respectable 54 and 57 yards. But, inconsistency has always been the main issue with Harvin since the Steelers drafted him and it showed once again on Sunday. One of the more overlooked pieces from Sunday's contest was the team's first drive and punt of the second half. Pittsburgh had some momentum after a pass to Diontae Johnson went for 26 yards. It unfortunately ended with Johnson's exit from the game due to a hamstring injury.
Pittsburgh got to the 49ers 45-yard line and decided to punt on a fourth down. Harvin needed to be aggressive and pin them deep to keep field position in the Steelers favor, but instead, booted one to the 17-yard line that was fair caught. If he kicked it in the end zone, the ball would have been placed at the 20-yard line. There was no reason not to be aggressive, but he played it safe and it resulted in a brutal 28-yarder.
His next punt went for 45 yards and he ended up with six opportunities and 42.3 yards per attempt. The Pittsburgh offense didn't do him many favors, but his inconsistency was noticeable. He had many chances, from the very first drive of the game to affect field position and was not so successful in doing so. San Francisco's punter, Mitch Wishnowsky did the exact opposite when given the chance.
San Francisco 49ers punter, Mitch Wishnowsky (#6) stands on the field at Levi's Stadium. | Photo Credit: Cooper Neill / Getty Images
Wishnowsky got three opportunities against the Steelers in Week 1 and made it so if they were going to score, it was going to have to be earned. That happened once when he boomed a punt to Pittsburgh's own five-yard line and it resulted in a 95-yard touchdown drive. Other than that, his other two punts pinned Pickett's unstable offense at the four-yard line. It made it almost impossible for a struggling unit to get anything going.
The goal is for a punter to not be used often in a game, let alone the six times Harvin was. Wishnowsky showed how important field position can be on just three occasions. Harvin had a front row see to watch how it should be done. Wishnowsky was first in the league in 2022 in percentage of punts inside the 20-yard line while Harvin was 29th. There's no doubt Pittsburgh needs to be watching the punting position carefully. Another year of inconsistency cannot be tolerated.
Are you disappointed with Harvin's inconsistent performance since he was drafted? Let us know in the comments below!
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