DB’s Steelers Dudes & Duds: Watt Wrecks, Harris Halts Comeback
The Pittsburgh Steelers losing streak remains in Philadelphia remains intact following a 27-13 loss on Sunday. Their 163 yards of offense is their lowest output since September 2010 and the defense, which was clearly gassed in the fourth quarter, just couldn’t figure out a way to get themselves off the field in the second half. There were some coaching elements that played a part in the outcome in this one as well.
Let’s talk about some winners and losers from the game that was.
DUDE: OLB T.J. Watt
As a whole, it was far from a banner day defensively but T.J. Watt certainly held up his end of the bargain. He finished the afternoon with two sacks, a pair of stops against the run and forced a fumble on a Jalen Hurts scramble in the first half. The advanced metrics aren’t up there with his best seasons in a Steelers uniform but there is no one in the sport that makes more game-changing type of plays that often times result in turnovers. Thankfully, it sounds like his ankle injury is close to best case scenario because it’s safe to say that they’re going to need him moving forward.
DUD: RB Najee Harris
In a game that felt more lopsided than the score indicated, the Steelers were 26 yards away from tying the game up in the third quarter. Then Najee Harris dropped a pitch on a toss play to the right and was unable to recover the ball which led to a change of possession. The Alabama product finished with just 14 yards on six carries and didn’t force a single missed tackle for the first time since week two. Pittsburgh’s inability to run the ball, whether with Harris or the other tailbacks, is a concerning trend to monitor as we get to the final stages of the season.=
DUDE: WR/PR Calvin Austin III
After a quiet performance against the Browns last week, Calvin Austin did some nice things today as the de-facto top receiver option available. His best play of the day came off a flea flicker concept where he ran a deep crossing route and while the design got him open, he made a nice adjustment to the ball in flight and came down with a contested catch grab for Steelers lone explosive play of the day. Throughout the season, he’s been their second best wideout and if George Pickens is unable to go next week, Arthur Smith will need to find ways to get him the rock in space.
DUD: Team Tackling
This Eagles offense is stacked with top tier talent from top to bottom but the Steelers did something today that they hadn’t done all season which was fail to tackle on a consistent basis. According to PFF, they missed a grand total of 16 tackles today after coming into the week with the fewest misses for any defense in the league. There were a couple plays to Kenneth Gainwell in particular that come to mind as reps that they’d like to have back because they had him in their grasp short of the sticks but let him slip away to extend drives. In order to pull off the upset, they need to be at their best and they simply weren’t today.
DUDE: RG Mason McCormick
It’s always tough to gauge positive offensive line performances in a reaction piece such as this based on the broadcast view but it seemed like Mason McCormick held his own today against Jalen Carter, one of the games up and coming superstars in the trenches. He didn’t allow a single pressure on the day. The fourth-round rookie has been solid in pass protection this season and is someone that the team should have an interest in continuing to develop moving forward. We’ll see what the film says but overall, it felt like a solid outing for him.
DUD: CB Donte Jackson
From a schematic standpoint, the Steelers made a conscious decision to prioritize stopping the run over the pass and ultimately, they didn’t execute the game plan well enough. Donte Jackson only played half of the game due to a back injury but the Eagles were attacking him consistently. A.J. Brown is a elite playmaker and he was making things look really easy in this one. The turnovers that Jackson has produced this season have been helpful but his down to down coverage and tackling reps haven’t been as pretty as the box score would indicate.
DUDE: ILB Mark Robinson
The formula to winning today involved forcing a couple turnovers and the special teams unit helped the cause. Mark Robinson leveled the Eagles return man while covering a punt in the first quarter gave the Steelers excellent field position to begin their next drive. Unfortunately, they were unable to punch it into the end zone which was a theme of the game but he’ll get kudos for that play in the special teams meeting room this week.
DUD: Mike Tomlin’s Game Management
The Pittsburgh Steelers losing streak remains in Philadelphia remains intact following a 27-13 loss. Their 163 yards of offense is their lowest output since September of 2010 and the defense, which was clearly gassed in the fourth quarter, just couldn’t figure out a way to get themselves off the field in the second half. There were some coaching elements that played a part in the outcome in this one as well. Let’s talk about some winners and losers from the game that was.
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