Category: 2023 Season Week 11 – Steelers vs Browns

NFL analyst says if it were any team but the Steelers ‘there would be firings today’

The Steelers have remained stubborn in staying the course this season, win or lose.

We have already seen NFL teams making staff changes to try and spark struggling franchises. The NFL is so competitive that complacency for the sake of familiarity is a recipe for failure. But the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t follow those rules and this season seem to have decided that taking a “going down with the ship” approach is more prudent.

After the Steelers embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, former NFL tight end Doran Dickerson was on 93.7 The Fan and said the quiet part out loud about this franchise. Dickerson asserts that if this were any other team, there would be firings today based on Sunday’s performance but the Steelers blind loyalty means it won’t happen.

At that point, Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly asked Dickerson what he would do if he were in charge and Dickerson didn’t hesitate. Fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada and bench quarterback Kenny Pickett for the rest of the season.

Is this the answer? I tend to agree with Pittsburgh radio personality Adam Crowley who came back with the idea of just benching Pickett for this week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals as sort of a reset and see what happens. The Bengals are playing a backup quarterback so this might be a great chance to steal a win with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback.

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Former Steeler Ryan Clark calls loss to Browns ‘disgraceful’

The Steelers gave one away on Sunday and Ryan Clark isn’t happy about it.

The frustration with the Pittsburgh Steelers continues to bubble to the surface as this offense stays stuck in neutral with no end in sight. Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark took to X on Sunday afternoon after the Steelers collapsed and lost to the Cleveland Browns to rail about how poorly the team played.

Clark called the performance disgraceful and called out the team for allowing it to happen. Clark spent 8 of this 13-year NFL career with the Steelers and was part of some of the best defensive units in the NFL at that time.

It’s hard to lay too much blame at the feet of the Steelers defense given how poorly the offense played. However, Clark is right about that final drive. The Browns seemed to be able to just flip a switch and march the ball down the field for that game-winning drive with a rookie quarterback. After the game, head coach Mike Tomlin seemed to be in complete denial about the problems this team is having, even in wins which does make you wonder if he has any interest in making substantial changes going forward.

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Studs and duds from the Steelers narrow loss to the Browns

The Steelers offense let one slip away on Sunday against the Browns.

Sunday was a tough one for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team had been getting by in recent weeks by allowing the Steelers defense and run game to do just enough to eek out close wins against middle-of-the-road football teams. But on Sunday, the Browns took a page out of the Steelers playbook and beat them at their own game.

As we went back through the game to put together our studs and duds something became obvious. The studs were on defense (except one) and all the duds were on offense.

Browns CB Mike Ford disrespects Terrible Towel after win

If you don’t want opposing players to do these things, you’d better win.

There was a time when the curse of the Terrible Towel meant if an opposing team disrespected the towel they were doomed to lose. But as we’ve seen this season, that no longer applies. To be fair, Cleveland Browns cornerback Mike Ford waited until after they beat the Steelers to disrespect it just to hedge his bet.

The Browns handed the Steelers an embarrassing 13-10 loss on Sunday thanks to a woeful Pittsburgh offense completely stalled out by the Browns defense. There was a time when a video like the one below would have enraged Steeler Nation but at this point, the fanbase has conceded that this team just isn’t very good and there doesn’t feel like that’s going to change much in the next eight games.

The Steelers now have to get past this week’s loss and try to prepare to take on a Cincinnati Bengals team minus quarterback Joe Burrow.

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Steelers QB Kenny Pickett admits offense was fooled by the Browns

Kenny Pickett took a shot at his coaches in the post-game press conference.

It seems that every time Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett dropped back to throw against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, he was lost. Pickett could only muster 106 passing yards in the loss and there was no fourth-quarter comeback.

After the game, Pickett spoke to the media and not so subtly admitted offensive coordinator Matt Canada and the offensive coaches had the game plan wrong.

“The plan was they play a lot of man-to-man; they didn’t play a lot of man-to-man today,” Pickett admitted. “They threw a lot of zone looks at us, different zone looks. We were expecting them to come in and play man. We’ll be able to adjust better.”

In the grand scheme of things, the fact Pickett said the team was outcoached on a day when he played so poorly is the Steelers offense in a nutshell. Coaches coaching poorly, players playing poorly, one just compounds the other.

Pittsburgh definitely didn’t make any meaningful adjustments during the game to try to account for this misstep and if they did, the team didn’t execute them properly. Now the team is 6-4 and struggling to stay relevant in the AFC.

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Is it time to bench Steelers QB Kenny Pickett?

Cast your vote and tell us if you think the Steelers need to make a quarterback change.

Sunday marked the fifth game this season that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett failed to throw for 200 yards in a game. Pickett was also held without a passing touchdown for the fifth game this season.

After Pittsburgh’s 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, the team fell to 6-4 and third place in the AFC North. The season isn’t over by any means but the margin for error for the Steelers going forward is razor thin and this team cannot remain competitive if they cannot throw the football with more consistency.

All of this forces us to wonder if the passing offense could be any worse if Mitch Trubisky took over for the remainder of the season. Or could his addition be the spark the passing game needs?

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Cast your vote and tell us if you think the Steelers should make the switch to Trubisky to see if it gives the offense a boost for the final seven games.

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Steelers act fast after Myles Garrett picks up Kenny Pickett’s helmet

There was one unintentionally hilarious moment in Sunday’s loss to the Browns.

Flashbacks were in full effect on Sunday. The Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Cleveland Browns and Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett ended up with the helmet of the Steelers quarterback in his hands. But this time Garrett didn’t get a shot to use it on anyone.

Of course, we are kidding. While Garrett did pick up the helmet of Kenny Pickett after he lost it on a quarterback sneak. But offensive tackle Broderick Jones was quick to go snatch up away from Garrett and you could see by his body language he realized what he was doing and made sure they knew he meant no harm.

The last time we saw Garrett with a Steelers helmet in his hand he was bludgeoning quarterback Mason Rudolph on his head with it. We are thankful that this week his intentions were less criminal.

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Steelers vs Browns: Takeaways from the miserable loss

The Steelers gave one away against the Browns on Sunday.

Sunday was an ugly football game. But in the end, the Cleveland Browns took what the Pittsburgh Steelers have been doing most of the season and gave it back to them en route to a 13-10 win on a final scoring drive. Here are our big takeaways from the loss.

Video catches Steelers defender flipping middle finger to Browns fans after missed opportunity

Trenton Thompson might be new to the Steelers, but he’s already well-versed in how deep-seated their rivalry with the Browns is.

Trenton Thompson might be new to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he’s already well-versed in their deep-seated rivalry with the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers’ defensive back made a great play on 3rd & 8 to force a punt, but what he really wanted was the interception.

After some self-chastising on his hands and knees after the missed opportunity, he stood up and flipped the middle finger to Browns fans who were likely saying something unpleasant about his mom.

Thompson made his Steelers debut in Week 10 after being elevated for the Green Bay Packers game. With injuries to Minkah Fitzpatrick and Keanu Neal now on injured reserve, he was elevated again this week with a starting nod.

Pittsburgh signed Thompson in August after rookie Cory Trice suffered a torn ACL in training camp.

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Steelers DB Elijah Riley suffers ankle injury

The Steelers are getting very thin at safety.

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Elijah Riley suffered an ankle injury on his collision with teammate Cam Heyward and is doubtful to return against the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers were already operating short-handed in the defensive secondary so losing Riley only makes things worse.

The Steelers came into Sunday’s game without starting safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Keanu Neal, meaning Riley came into the game as the team’s top reserve safety behind starters Damontae Kazee and Trenton Thompson. Look for more Patrick Paterson back there with Riley out.

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