The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to leave Foxboro with a win on Sunday, but it wasn’t a pretty one. The defense did their best to play complimentary football, forcing five turnovers throughout the game. However, the offense wasn’t able to take advantage until a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. PFF’s Dalton Wasserman remains far from confident in the unit heading into Week 4.
“If we’re looking at Pittsburgh, and the way they’ve played offensively through three games, and right now they’re the third-lowest graded offense in football, the bubble is gonna pop,” Wasserman said on the PFF NFL Show on Monday. “The offensive tackles are bad. They can’t run the ball. To be honest with you, there is no more fool’s gold in the NFL right now, than Aaron Rodgers’ touchdown to interception ratio… We’re gonna find out next week.”
The Steelers’ offense actually started the game very well. They took advantage of an opening drive turnover from New England, and quickly took a 14-0 lead. Unfortunately, things were very quiet after that. It took up until the final drive of the game for the unit to click again, when Rodgers threw a game-winning touchdown to Calvin Austin III.
The metrics tell a more complete story. The Steelers’ offense ran just 49 plays, compared to the Patriots’ 71. Of course, that coincides with them losing the time of possession battle, controlling the ball for just under 27 minutes of game time. They picked up 17 first downs compared to 26 for New England, and had just 64 yards on the ground.
The most maddening of it all was their inability to convert on the numerous opportunities the defense provided them with. They should get credit for their fourth down drive, as it was a methodical, well-executed possession. However, they did next to nothing through the entire second and third quarters. If the defense even forced just four turnovers instead of five, they might have lost the game.
Wasserman hints that the bubble might pop next week against the Minnesota Vikings, who present a tough test. A familiar face in Brian Flores leads that unit, one that just forced five turnovers themselves against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Two of those were interceptions. That could be an issue for Rodgers, who threw a terrible one to Robert Spillane this week.
Pittsburgh has managed to win two of it’s three games despite quite a bit of inconsistency. Going forward, the schedule only gets more difficult. The Steelers’ offense is going to have to start making some more progress if this team is going to make any kind of run this year.
