Steelers Breakdown from PennLive.com

Steelers Nation has become Second-Guessing Nation. This, as legions of once-loyal Steelers fans increasingly question the head-scratching coaching decisions coming from Mike Tomlin. This began with his insistence on sticking with clueless offensive coordinator Matt Canada, despite the Steelers’ pop-gun attack. It’s now extending to all manner of roster decisions, most notably Tomlin’s baffling intention to return the Steelers’ top two draft picks – left tackle Broderick Jones and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. – to the bench this Sunday vs. the Rams in LA.

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The Steelers are 3-2 and sitting atop the AFC North heading into their bye week. But something doesn’t compute. Pittsburgh has posted a negative 31 point differential over their first five games. This fraught formula for eking out wins – as nice as last Sunday’s 17-10 victory over the rival Ravens was – just isn’t sustainable. Or is it? 

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The tide has turned against Mike Tomlin, the Steelers’ once-unassailable coach who never posted a losing season in Pittsburgh. In wake of a 30-6 drubbing by the Texans, angry callers across the 412-area code have been flooding sports talk shows with calls for Tomlin’s head. The game has passed him by, some are saying.

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While acknowledging the across-the-board improvements on display in Las Vegas Sunday night, Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin doubled down, saying his still-developing team is in the process of building toward something far, far better -- only to be revealed as the young season unfolds. Just don’t call it “mojo.”

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The Steelers offense is suffering from a severe touchdown drought – and has been for quite a while. If it wasn’t for the defense, who out-touchdowned the offense 2 to 1 Monday night vs. the Browns, the Steelers would be sitting at 0-2 right now. Most of the blame is being laid at the feet of clueless coordinator Matt Canada, with the Acrisure Stadium crowd loudly calling for his head.

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If the Steelers did one thing positive in losing so humiliatingly to the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, they certainly lowered expectations for themselves. But they also find themselves desperate for a win in just the second game of the season. 

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The maturation of Kenny Pickett is nearly complete. An offseason full of film study, playbook scrutiny, pumping iron, working out with his receivers and becoming a married man has been leading up to this: Sunday’s home-opener vs. the Super Bowl-sniffing San Francisco 49ers who aim to test Pickett’s progress with a fierce pass rush and big-play-stifling defense.

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More than a week before the Steelers host the San Francisco 49ers, some very prominent sports analysts in Pittsburgh are brimming with superlatives when it comes to QB Kenny Pickett and his sky-high potential in his sophomore season. One even used the word “unstoppable” when it comes to Pickett and this year’s offense under heretofore much-criticized coordinator Matt Canada. Unstoppable? The Steelers’ offense? We haven’t heard those words in the same sentence since the heydays of the Killer Bs: Big Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. Much of this is based on a total of just 15 passes Pickett threw in the preseason in three exhibition games against Tampa Bay, Buffalo, and Atlanta. But in the NFL, it’s all about the regular season. If a young NFL QB can make it there, he can make it anywhere, so the Sinatra song goes. Yet, some Pittsburgh pundits aren’t waiting until Pickett’s passes fly for real. They’re declaring Pickett the real deal right now. Pittsburgh sports radio personality and Post-Gazette columnist Joe Starkey is projecting Pickett will take his place among the NFL’s top 10 QBs in his second year. Despite the 2022 Steelers averaging just 18.1 points per game, Starkey says Pickett is poised to win “shootouts” in the pass-happy, QB-loaded AFC. Not all of Pickett’s praise-givers are ready to go quite this far. Yet, the Pickett hype in Pittsburgh is unlike anything we’ve seen in many years heading into a Steelers’ season seemingly packed with promise and potential. We have more on Pickett and the Steelers’ offense, plus the impact of some surprising roster moves ahead of the regular season. It’s all in this can’t-wait-for-Week-1 edition of your Steelers Update podcast. And be sure to catch my full print column first thing every Thursday on PennLive. As always, it will be packed with plenty of memes bringing the latest, greatest Steelers debates to life – and to laughs. 

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Jaylen Warren’s explosive 62-yard touchdown runs vs. the Buffalo Bills heralded another gear – and another level for the Steelers’ running game. As soon as Warren sped into the end zone, it ignited a Steelers Nation debate over who’s the best running back in the ‘Burgh. Warren is seen as the modern do-it-all back. Najee Harris is the throwback. Warren is a game-breaker. Harris is a pounding plodder that harkens back to three yards and a cloud of dust. Both backs will be integral to the 2023 Steelers’ offense. Harris will help turnover the down markers and run out the clock. But it’s Warren who’ll become the take-it-to-the-house scoring threat from anywhere on the field. That’s not the only difference, either. One was drafted in the first round. The other was signed off the street. No wonder supposedly elite running backs across the league often go begging when it comes to signing their second NFL contract. The crucial number is yards per carry. Najee is stuck at a lackluster 3.9 YPC after two years with the Steelers. Warren put up a full yard on Najee in 2022, and if he continues to explode like he did vs. Buffalo, the gap could grow to the point of embarrassment for the former first-rounder. In today’s NFL, running backs have become a means to an end. As Warren showed, the shortest distance to a touchdown is a 62-yard run. We have much more on the juggernaut Steelers, who’ve been peaking in the preseason, along with all the resulting Yinzer hype now sweeping Steelers Nation. But is this team for real? We dig for answers in this band-wagon edition of your Steelers Update Podcast. And be sure to check out my full print column first thing Thursday on PennLive. It will be packed with plenty of memes bringing the latest, greatest Steelers debate to life – and to laughs. 

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Scoring from in close is a major emphasis at Steelers’ training camp this year. Early word coming out of those goal-line drills is the red zone should be much, much hotter for the Steelers in 2023. It had better be.

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