The Pittsburgh Steelers escaped Colorado with a very ugly win against the Denver Broncos. After being up 10-0 at halftime, the offense completely shut down, as they punted the ball away on six of their seven drives in the second half, with their lone scoring drive coming off of a massive defensive pass interference penalty. If they keep playing like they did to end the game, they will not win many games, especially with that brutal schedule in the latter part of the season.
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Steelers' Justin Fields rolls out during a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills in 2024.
During a post-game interview, Justin Fields did not sugarcoat anything as he understood that he and the rest of the offense did not do their part to secure the win.
"I don't think we played good enough as an offense... still got some work to do on the offensive side of the ball in terms of not shooting ourselves in the foot: self-inflicted wounds with penalties and stuff like that... You can make those great plays, and they get taken away by those penalties, so we need to get rid of those penalties and we'll really be cooking."
Mike Tomlin spent most of his press conference on harping on those penalties as well, so at least everyone is in agreement that the kind of performance against Denver is completely unacceptable.
In fact, those penalties may have permanently cost Broderick Jones his job, as he had back-to-back holding calls, including one that negated a 51-yard pass in the second quarter. If the Steelers want to keep winning, whether Fields or Russell Wilson is at quarterback, that type of game can't happen again."
In the second half, the Steelers gained a total of 76 yards on plays where there were no penalties from either themselves or the Broncos. They didn't even get close to picking up 100 yards as a team after halftime. If it wasn't for an interception in the end zone by Cory Trice, this game may have gone into overtime due to the Steelers' inability to move the ball, with or without costly fouls being called on them.
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Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones lines up against the Cincinnati Bengals during a regular season game in the 2023 season.
Steelers Will Not Have An Easy Game In Week 3
The Steelers barely made it to 2-0, but they played against a rebuilding team in Denver, as well as the Atlanta Falcons, who did not let their starting quarterback play at all in the preseason. Their next opponent will be the Los Angeles Chargers, who have also won their first two games of the season. Even though the Steelers will finally be at home for that matchup, that doesn't mean that they can relax and take it easy leading up to the matchup.
Instead of playing a rusty quarterback or a rookie that has yet to adjust to the NFL level, they will have to go against a better offense led by Justin Herbert. Even with him being a highly-talented quarterback, their run game has also been dominant, as they are led by former divisional rivals in JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards. The Steelers' offense will have to prepare for more of an offensive showdown, as opposed to a defensive slog-fest where getting 13 points is enough to win.
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JK Dobbins runs the football as a member of the Baltimore Ravens during a contest in Pittsburgh, PA.
Even though the Steelers still lead the division, there is absolutely no time for them to get comfortable. Fields has to keep developing as a passer, but the team as a whole has to play a much cleaner game, and the offense has to have long, sustained drives much more often. This is still considered the easy part of their schedule, and if they don't get their issues cleaned up quickly, this will be a very long season.
What do you think about Fields being critical about the offensive performance, including his own? Will they get everything cleaned up before their home opener? Let us know in the comments.
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