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Steelers vs Browns: Grading the offensive positional units
Through three games, the Pittsburgh Steelers rank near the bottom in nearly every offensive category. Thursday was another underwhelming offensive performance and there seems to be no quick fix out there. The Steelers were held to 308 yards of offense and just 17 points. Here are our grades for each of the offensive positional units.
Chase Claypool sayshe’s just doing what he’s told.
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On Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool caught four passes for 26 yards in the loss to the New England Patriots. A humble effort to say the least and definitely not in line with a guy who said before the season he is a top three receiver in the NFL.
Everyone is scratching their heads as to why an offense with talented skill players like Claypool has looked so inept this season. According to Claypool, they are just doing their jobs.
“We can only do what they tell us to do and execute it,” Claypool said. There is some stuff to unpack with this quote. Yes, execution falls on the players. If the coach tells you it’s Easter but it’s september, you still better starting hiding eggs.
However, this doesn’t mean the coaches can just throw out anything and expeect the players to win with it. This is where it feels like it is with the Steelers offense and offensive coordinator Matt Canada. So much of what he calls seems to fall counter to the strengths of this team and he can’t see it.
Let us know in the comments below where you stand on Canada after Sunday’s loss and do you think it’s time to make a change.
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The Steelers offense struggled on Sunday.
The Pittsburgh Steelers had a golden opportunity to go to 2-0 on Sunday against the New England Patriots but things didn’t go according to plan and the Steelers fell 17-14. Here are our big takeaways from the loss.
New quarterback, same problems for the Steelers offense.
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In 2020 and 2021, many Pittsburgh Steelers fans and even people outside of the fan base took great pleasure in slamming quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and putting the struggles of the Steelers offense at his feet.
But I think we can all say that two weeks into the post-Roethlisberger era, he was not the problem. A case can be made the Steelers offense is better this season than it was last season at every position other than quarterback. Running back Najee Harris has a year under his belt, George Pickens is an upgrade over JuJu Smith-Schuster at wide receiver, and several spots were upgraded on the offensive line.
Yet even with a “new and improved” quarterback — Mitch Trubisky — the offense still suffers from the same problems. The scheme is entirely too conservative, completely ignores the middle of the field and inexplicably calls high-risk plays at the worst possible times.
Roethlisberger led this offense to seven comeback wins last season by sheer force of will and talent. That made it seem like the offensive system was fine and an aging Roethlisberger was the problem. But that narrative needs to be put to bed after watching Trubisky throw for only 168 yards on 21-of-33 passing against the Patriots.
Where does the blame fall? It has to start at the top. Head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Matt Canada refuse to budge on their offensive philosophies in spite of all the evidence showing they must. If anything good has come from this miserable start, it’s that Roethlisberger is vindicated in how he carried this offense.
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Will the Steelers move to 2-0 this week against the Patriots?
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It is almost kickoff for the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots so let’s make our official prediction.
Despite the fact the Steelers are underdogs at home to the winless Patriots and will be without star linebacker T.J. Watt, we love the Steelers here. Riding high after a huge upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals last week and facing a Patriots offense that has been bad all offseason and showed no signs of life against the Miami Dolphins.
Pittsburgh does need to get the offense on track but there’s no better place for that than Heinz Field, er, I mean Acrisure Stadium. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky wasn’t sharp last week but we expect to see the offense get moving this weekend and get guys like running back Najee Harris and wide receiver George Picken involved in the action.
So what is our final prediction? Let’s go Steelers 24, Patriots 14. Cast your vote below and tell us who you think will win and then post your score prediction in the comments.
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Here are the inactives for this week’s game.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) take on the New England Patriots (0-1) at Acrisure Stadium this week. The Patriots are coming off a road loas to the Maimi Dolphins while the Steelers won a thrilling overtime showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Despite the win, the Steelers offense struggled and needs to show more consistency and physicality this week. Here are the inactives for both teams before kickoff.
Steelers inactives:
Patriots inactives:
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Here’s what you need to make sure you don’t miss this week’s Steelers game.
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Here is everything you need to know so you can watch, listen to or stream this week’s Pittsburgh Steelers game. It is Week Two of the regular season and the Steelers return home to take on the New England Patriots. Pittsburgh will go in without star linebacker T.J. Watt but will look for big performances from defensive tackle Cam Heyward and linebacker Alex Highsmith can pick up the slack.
Here is everything you need so you don’t miss a minute of the action.
Announcers: Play-by-play Ian Eagle, analyst Charles Davis
Online: You can also tune in online with NFL+ and FuboTV (try it for free).
Radio: Westwood One and Steeler Nation Radio will have the game, as well as WDVE 102.5 FM & WBGG 970, AM local.
You can also follow the game with us @TheSteelersWire and of course here on Steelers Wire with our live updates during the game, along with highlights of all the key moments from this week’s game. Join us straight after the final whistle for more in-depth coverage, injury updates, and analysis of all the action.
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Which Steelers must play better vs the Patriots?
Despite the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers won last week, the team didn’t play well at multiple positions. This is especially true on offense. The New England Patriots come to town this weekend with their own inept offense. Pittsburgh has a chance to quiet the doubters from last week but to do it, these four players must play better.
Spoiler: I did not include quarterabck Mitch Trubisky on this list. He absolutely has to play better but this one is almost too obvious.
The Steelers have no players on their game status report.
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Aside from outisde linebacker T.J. Watt, the Pittsburgh Steelers are at full health heading into Sunday’s game agains the New England Patriots.
Pittsburgh did have running back Najee Harris (pectoral), cornerback Levi Wallace (ankle), center Mason Cole (ankle) and linebacker Robert Spillane (eye) had all either missed practice or been limited this week but none are listed on the game status report on Friday.
There was genuine concern that the foot injury Harris suffered in Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Benglas would keep him out of this week’s game but Harris looks to be ready to go.
The Patriots have the following players listed as questionable for this week’s game:
S Joshuah Bledsoe (groin)
OT Trent Brown (ankle)
LB Raekwon McMillan (thumb)
S Adrian Phillips (ribs)
RB Pierre Strong jr. (shoulder)
CB Shaun Wade (ankle)
Quarterback Mac Jones who was dealing with a back injury has been removed from the practice report.
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Here are four ways the Steelers must get better this week.
Despite the win on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers have plenty of areas for improvement this week. The Steelers cannot count on winning against the New England Patriots the same way they beat the Cincinnati Bengals. Here are four big areas of improvement for this week.
