Category: 2020 Steelers vs. Washington NFL Week 13

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger falls on his sword for offensive failings

The Steelers offense has been struggling and once again Ben Roethlisberger blames himself.

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After Monday’s disappointing 23-17 loss to the Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did exactly what you thought he would.

Roethlisberger stepped up to the virtual podium after the game and fell on his sword for the Steelers offensive failings. This is what a leader does but we need to think about how much is warranted and how much is simply posturing by Big Ben.

In the big picture, the problems with the Steelers offense is not Roethlisberger’s fault. For two straight weeks, his skill players have let him down with nearly 20 drops in two games. This puts Roethlisberger in a tough spot when he drops back and wonders which guy he can count on to make a play.

It also isn’t Roethlisberger’s fault the offensive line seems to have forgotten how to run block. Or that the Steelers running backs are pretty average talent. This is part of why Roethlisberger is forcing the passing game. His line does a great job in pass protection and the talent on the offense is at wide receiver.

However, the one area where Roethlisberger needs to take some heat is in his decision making. Let’s not pretend that this offense and the playcalling isn’t under Big Ben’s control. He walked to the line of scrimmage over and over again on Monday, surveyed the defense, saw a stacked box and continued to try that dink and dunk passing game. He made it easy on the Washington defense by basically throwing into the teeth of the defense.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin in denial about problems with run game

The Steelers run game is really struggling and it isn’t by choice.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers run game was woeful on Monday against the Washington Football Team. Pittsburgh rushed for 21 yards on 13 attempts by running backs including a miserable goal-line stand where the Steelers failed to score with less than a yard to gain on multiple attempts.

But don’t kid yourself, head coach Mike Tomlin is not going to own the fact the run game and the philosophy around the run game is broken. When he spoke to the media he continued to prop up the idea that the team is choosing to throw the ball as much as they are and it has nothing to do with how bad the run game is.

The problem with this whole debate is Tomlin and the Steelers coaches are setting the run game up for failure. When you sprinkle in a run every dozen pass attempts it isn’t going to work. And the whole situation is made worse by the fact that when the bulk of the Steelers passes are at the line of scrimmage it gives the defense no incentive to do anything but stack the box.

Pittsburgh only has a few days to swallow their pride and turn the run game around. This type of predictable offense is not going to fly for the remainder of the season. If Pittsburgh wants to be a serious Super Bowl contender, 50+ pass attempts per game isn’t going to work.

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Things we saw in the Pittsburgh Steelers first loss of the season

Nine observations from the Steelers (hopefully) wake-up call at Heinz Field.

After an 11-game run, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost a game. There’s some relief that comes with the loss, and Pittsburgh should be glad to have that target off its back.

Now that that’s out of the way, the Steelers need to give themselves a good, hard look in the mirror — starting with offensive play-calling. Pittsburgh has been extremely lucky dink-and-dunk has worked in their favor for this long.

Their one-dimensional offense is no longer feasible, and it needs to be reworked — pronto. Completely starting over at this point in the season is impossible, so I sure hope the Steelers have a bag of tricks up their sleeve.

Here’s what we saw in Pittsburgh’s 23-17 loss to Washington.

Washington exposed Steelers offense and told the world

Steelers Wire talks about how Washington players weren’t shy talking about how the Steelers offense was exposed.

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Well, this is awkward. NFL Network reported offered up this troubling nugget of information shortly after the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-17 loss to the Washington Football Team. According to Washington defensive ends Montez Sweat and Chase Young, they used their film study of last week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens to expose some offensive tendencies by Pittsburgh to their advantage.

All you had to do was watch the game to understand Washington knew what was coming. The Steelers run so many short crossers and Washington was all over them all night long. It was only when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took some shots downfield that it looked like Washington wasn’t reading his mind.

The Steelers have become almost completely one dimensional in recent weeks and Washington seriously took advantage of it. Pittsburgh now has a week how to change things up enough that the Buffalo Bills can’t use the last two weeks of film to further exploit a struggling Pittsburgh offense.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin defends rookie RB Anthony McFarland Jr. on 4th-down play

The Steelers had a strange call late in the game but Mike Tomlin defended it.

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On Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers were guilty of many inexplicable plays against the Washington Football Team. This gives you just part of the picture as to why the Steelers lost 23-17 to Washington and are no longer undefeated.

But perhaps no play was more puzzling, while at the same time illuminating as a fourth-down play late in the game. Pittsburgh came out to go for it on fourth-and-one with the game on the line, 12 personnel, went empty set and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tried some sort of lob to rookie running back Anthony McFarland Jr. that went incomplete.

The play call made not sense, the throw wasn’t great and McFarland’s read on the pass was even worse. Nevertheless, when head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to the media after the game he defended the play and said McFarland was absolutely the No. 1 option.

So just so we all understand. On a team with wide receivers Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington along with tight end Eric Ebron, the call on the biggest play of the game was to the rookie running back with five career receptions coming into the game? There’s a lot to unpack with that decision but it really encapsulates what all went wrong on Monday.

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4 big takeaways from the Steelers loss to Washington

Steelers Wire looks at the early takeaways from the Steelers ugly loss to the Washington Football Team.

I don’t know if anyone really thought the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to go undefeated and given the play in recent weeks, it probably shouldn’t be a huge shock Pittsburgh came up just short against the Washington Football Team.

Here are our big takeaways from the 23-17 loss.

Luck runs out as Washington breaks Steelers unbeaten streak

The Steelers run out of gas and fall to the Washington Football Team 24-17.

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Over the last few weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers looked like a team on the brink of folding, and on Monday it happened. The Steelers let the Washington Football Team come into Heinz Field and push them around and beat Pittsburgh 23-17.

Being 11-1 is hardly the end of the world but this loss just validates the opinion of all those pundits who said the Steelers are more pretenders than contenders.

The reality is this is a team decimated by fatigue and injuries, unable to will their way to another win through a grueling stretch. For two straight weeks, we’ve seen a conservative offense fold up into a shell completely[listicle id=483255] and more than a dozen drops on easy passes to stall out drives.

Going beyond that, this is a worn-out team and there is no end in sight. Pittsburgh must now rally and find a way to put this game aside and prepare to go on the road to take on the talented Buffalo Bills.

A total lack of balance on offense was a huge factor in this loss. The Steelers can no longer minimize the absence of a run game because they aren’t just winning anymore.

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Steelers CB Joe Haden being evaluated for a concussion

The Steelers cornerback depth chart got even thinner with Joe Haden out.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers announced that starting cornerback Joe Haden is questionable to return as he’s being evaluated for a concussion suffered in the second half against the Washington Football Team.

Pittsburgh was already missing cornerback Steven Nelson which leaves Cameron Sutton and Justin Layne as the only healthy outside cornerbacks left on the roster.

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Steelers LB Robert Spillane questionable to return with knee injury

The Steelers will be without linebacker Robert Spillane as he has suffered a knee injury.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers announced that linebacker Robert Spillane is questionable to return after injuring his knee early in the second half against the Washington Football Team. Pittsburgh will move newly-acquired Avery Williamson will replace Spillane in the lineup in the base defense.

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Steelers vs Washington: 4 takeaways from the first half

The Steelers find themselves leading going into halftime.

Stop me if you heard this one before. The Pittsburgh Steelers got out to a very slow start against the Washington Football Team but find themselves in the lead at halftime. Pittsburgh goes into halftime with a 14-3 lead. Here are our four big takeaways from the first half.