Steel City Blitz
Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Monday.
After last week’s win over Indianapolis, I said that the formula for the Pittsburgh Steelers was clear. The only way they can win in 2025 is to significantly win the turnover battle. Last night in Los Angeles was further proof. Not only did they not win the turnover battle but they couldn’t have played worse, especially offensively. The Steelers fell behind 25-3 in the second half before losing 25-10 in what could only be described as “an embarrassing loss.” Mike Tomlin certainly wasn’t in any mood to discuss it.
Credit Mike Minter and the Chargers’ defense. They harassed Aaron Rodgers all night long forcing him into interceptions and one poor throw after another. It was easily Rodgers’ worst performance as a Steeler. He sailed one throw after another and forced balls into coverage more than we’ve seen all year. This was the Aaron Rodgers many of us thought we might see more often after his time in New York. Now the question is, can he bounce back?
The loss was a major step backwards for an offensive line that seemed to have been improving. Both Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu struggled all night and the interior of the O-line didn’t fare much better. Tomlin has to make a change at OL Coach. Enough is enough. Not getting nearly enough out of this group.
Kenneth Gainwell ran for 99 yards and two scores in the win over Minnesota in Ireland. Since then, he’s become almost invisible. He didn’t have a single carry last night and ended up with two touches offensively. Early on with the offense backed up to its own end zone, Arthur Smith opted for Kaleb Johnson on the first two plays which went nowhere. On the third, Rodgers was sacked for a safety. Gainwell deserves more opportunities than he’s getting.
You could argue that the defense did enough to keep the Steelers’ chances alive for much of the game and that’s true to a point. They still surrendered about four yards per carry and almost six yards per play. The Chargers were also two for three in the Red Zone. The Steelers did sack Justin Herbert five times but they didn’t record any turnovers. As T.J. Watt said in his post game comments, “We can’t continue to live and die by turnovers.” He’s 100% right but I’m not sure it will change much in 2025.
The more I think about this game the more I look at it as a lost opportunity. Sunday at home against Cincinnati becomes ‘must-win’ in my opinion simply because of who still remains on the schedule. But last night was a chance to create momentum. It was a chance to say “beating Indy wasn’t a fluke” yet the team could not have played worse. Two dropped interceptions, a horrible percentage on third down and Chris Boswell...
