The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense took a major step back in their embarrassing loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 where they were only able to score 10 points. This comes after recording over 400 total yards on offense in Week 12 against the Cincinnati Bengals, which was the first time a Steelers team did so since the 2020 NFL season. Despite the step back on the offensive side of the ball, former NFL player Chris Long doesn't think the offense is totally to blame for the horrific loss.
Associated Press
Steelers' Kenny Pickett got off to a hot start against the Arizona Cardinals before a series of bad snaps by Mason Cole derailed him.
The offense had some bright spots in the first half against Arizona and was driving deep in their opponent's territory when Kenny Pickett got hurt. He was ruled out for the rest of the game with an ankle injury, which will keep him sidelined for an extended period of time. The drive resulted in zero points as Najee Harris was stuffed on the goal line on fourth down. The Steelers then gave up a 99-yard touchdown drive by the Cardinals to end the first half.
AZCardinals.com
Steelers' TJ Watt (90) in a 2019 game against the Cardinals.
The game felt weird throughout the entire time, mainly because of the injury to Pickett, as well as the multiple rain delays. Pickett was having a decent day before going down, as he finished with seven completions in 10 attempts for 70 yards (which included a deep 38-yard pass to George Pickens). Long noticed that Pickett was playing well and they weren't in any trouble until he got injured, which he talked about on his podcast, Green Light With Chris Long.
"Alright, people want to make the Steelers thing about the offense because it's so boring and easy to do and you look at the end of the game and they couldn't score with the ******* Cardinals. But, before that injury, I thought they looked pretty decent on offense. You're still in the building phase of this new thing, and they're going down to drive, five minutes to go in the second quarter. You get the ball to George Pickens early, he had four catches before you could blink, they were running the football. There was a lot of good stuff. Third downs were bad."
Steelers' Poor Play From Center Position Played Major Factor
The Steelers were moving the ball well on the ground with both Harris and Jaylen Warren, and Pickett was efficient through the air. The main thing that held the Steelers back before Pickett's injury was the inability to convert on third down, and horrific snaps from Mason Cole. Cole had multiple low snaps that led to poor results on third down, and had another snap that Pickett fell to the ground to maintain, which resulted in a loss of yards. He then had another low snap to Mitch Trubisky in the second half which led to a fumble that was recovered by the Cardinals.
Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press
Steelers' Kenny Pickett leaves the game due to injury against the Arizona Cardinals.
Overall, Long essentially attributed this loss to the sequence which ended the first half. Harris getting stuffed at the goal line and the Cardinals then abusing the Steelers defense en route to a 99-yard touchdown drive was key. The Cardinals of course went on to score more in the second half, but the game really felt out of hand for the Steelers after the Cardinals first touchdown and Pickett was ruled out for the game.
"You can't get in the end zone, fourth and short, you get stuffed. I don't know if it's any different with Kenny because they ran the ball, what's the difference? But I don't know, maybe they have some different options they feel better about. The bottom line is, now as a defense, you really have a chance to have these guys backed up, get the ball right back and get some points before half. But it was one third down conversion after another. I worry about that defense, I worry about the second level of the Pittsburgh defense."
Once the Cardinals were able to score to end the first half on the 99-yard drive, they were able to do whatever they wanted to the Steelers defense the rest of the game. They ran the ball all over Pittsburgh in the second half. Former Steelers running back, James Conner, finished the game with two touchdowns on 105 yards rushing and was truly the difference maker for Arizona.
Even though the offense gets a lot of the blame for their lack of production, the defense wasn't able to stop the Cardinals. The unit will really need to step up for Pittsburgh in Week 14 against the New England Patriots since the Steelers will be without Pickett, and instead will be starting Trubisky.
What do you think about Long's comments? Let us know in the comments section below!
#SteelerNation
