Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers scored only six points and averaged 4.3 yards per pass attempt in Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns. To say the least, it was a long afternoon on the shores of Lake Erie for Arthur Smith and his offensive unit.
“We had way too many self-inflicted wounds for many reasons,” Smith said on Thursday. “Had plenty of opportunities. You got to give Cleveland credit. But that’s really what went on.
“I mean, you move the ball and then some of the situational stuff, we had too many negative plays when we were on the track or [had] field position after big plays and we didn’t overcome it. But those are every week, tough lessons learned whether you win or lose. The reality is we have a huge opportunity and big game Sunday night.”
Aaron Rodgers throwing a 50/50 go ball to Scotty Miller on fourth-and-1 from Cleveland’s 22-yard line in the second quarter was arguably the most head-scratching decision of the Steelers’ loss to the Browns.
Rodgers’ pass was way out of reach for Miller, squandering a chance to put up points after Jack Sawyer’s interception off Shedeur Sanders. The Steelers were also in an empty look on fourth-and-1. Why not just run the ball? The Steelers finished with 131 yards on 24 carries, an average of 5.5 yards per carry.
With the game hanging in the balance, Rodgers targeted Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s three straight times. All were incomplete. The last one was another 50/50 ball on a fade route.
Smith had no issue with Rodgers targeting MVS three straight times on the last possession.
“Second-and-seven, so we had three at the seven, still enough time if someone was underneath you could get a play off. Different ways, it was man coverage again, couple different things happened, last one I thought we had a good look, I thought [Valdes-Scantlingr] ran a good route, results didn’t go out way,” Smith said.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers OC Arthur Smith Explains What Went Wrong vs. Browns
