Dawgs By Nature
This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns are on the road as they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6. To help preview a few topics from the Steelers’ perspective, we reached out to Ryland Bickley from Behind the Steel Curtain and exchanged five questions with him.
Chris: “After four games, how do you assess the job that Aaron Rodgers has done in black and gold?”
Ryland: “Rodgers is still a starting-quality quarterback, but he’s no longer the MVP-caliber passer he was in his prime.
For one, his mobility has declined a good bit. And on a similar note, he’s looked skittish at times this year under pressure. The Steelers’ offensive line has been up and down this season, and the run game (outside of the team’s most recent win over the Vikings) hasn’t done much to help him out.
But while Rodgers hasn’t been spectacular for the most part, he’s largely been good. His veteran savvy has been a boost for the offense, and his arm still has some juice. His lone touchdown pass against Minnesota was a laser beam on a post to D.K. Metcalf, and this toss on the move against Seattle has been his highlight of the season so far even if it was dropped.
And in that win over the Vikings, Rodgers didn’t turn the ball over and completed over 80% of his passes against a defense that excels at taking away the quick game — which has been the Steelers passing game’s bread and butter this season. The team has really struggled to push the ball downfield this year, but so far, a dink-and-dunk passing game has gotten them to 3-1, largely thanks to a group of pass catchers that have succeeded in getting yards after catch.
That’s what the Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers-led passing offense has been this year: Not great, but they’ve done enough to get the job done.”
Chris: “What do you view as the Steelers’ biggest weakness right now?”
Ryland: “Through the first three games of the season, there were a few contenders: run game efficiency, pass protection, middle of the field pass coverage, and run defense. All four have slowly improved, with the team’s best showing by far coming against Minnesota in Week 4 (the Steelers had a Week 5 bye).
This early in the season, I definitely wouldn’t say any of those issues are completely fixed, but they’re heading in the right direction. However, a new problem might be on the horizon with wide receiver Calvin Austin III out this week against the Browns.
The Steelers were already thin at the position behind D.K. Metcalf, and now Austin, who has been the team’s second-best receiver by far this season, is out.
Expect some combination of Roman Wilson, a 2024 draft pick who has one career NFL catch, Scotty Miller, and Ben Skowronek to fill in for Austin. There’s some talent there, but all three haven’t proven to be more than depth WR4/5s at this point in their careers....
