OK, let’s reassess.
After the Steelers’ 27-14 win over the Browns, Pittsburgh was 10-3 and headed to a big game against Philadelphia that was a great measuring stick for where it stands as the playoffs draw near. Pittsburgh currently owns the rights to a home playoff game in the wild-card round due to its strong run through the regular season, and it clinched a postseason berth despite a 27-13 loss to the Eagles on Sunday.
But in Sunday’s defeat, the Steelers showed concerning flaws in terms of matching up with the best team in the NFL, which is close to the caliber of teams they’ll need to beat in order to go on a run in January. They’re probably closer to a team that puts up a good game in the wild-card round rather than a team that’s a real threat to win it all.
The Steelers have been feeling the absence of top wide receiver George Pickens, who has been out the past two weeks with a hamstring injury. In the two games where they haven’t had Pickens, the Steelers have been one of the worst offenses in football. According to TruMedia, they rank 29th in success rate (34.5%), 30th in offensive expected points added (-24.1) and 27th in dropback success rate (36.4%). That’s not surprising considering their wide receiver depth is a known problem, but the entire offense becoming a nothing-burger without Pickens is an alarming sight.
His presence was needed against the Eagles, who largely stuffed the Steelers into a locker. The Eagles have had arguably the best defense in football for the majority of the season and showed why again on Sunday. Pittsburgh had nothing vs. Philadelphia in the first half offensively. The Steelers averaged 2.7 yards per play, 2.9 yards per dropback and managed only one explosive play. Without the help of their defense and special teams, they would have gone into the half with fewer than the 13 points they struggled to attain. They had no easy buttons with Pickens out and really no downfield presence as a team. If the Steelers aren’t running the ball well, which is most weeks, and they don’t have Pickens, they don’t really have much going on.
That part of the Steelers’ loss wasn’t surprising, but how they ultimately lost the game was. The Steelers has one of the best defenses in the league, but they let the Eagles play keep-away to end the game. A Najee Harris fumble, on one of the two quality drives the Steelers had, led to an Eagles touchdown that gave them a 27-13 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. On the final drive of the game, the Eagles ran 21 plays for 88 yards and milked the final 10:29 of game clock to close it out. Ten minutes and 29 seconds to stomp out the clock on the Steelers.
The Steelers’ run defense has been a bit shaky this season, and Pittsburgh was going against an incredible rushing team, but being unable to get off the field in almost a full quarter of game clock is astoundingly bad.
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It’s unlikely the Steelers, or any team playing professional football, will give up a drive like that for the rest of the season. The fact that it happened means this defense has a soft spot that can kill in a one-game sample. They need more help from the offense, but they’re too incapacitated without Pickens on the field — which is a problem in itself. A Super Bowl offense probably shouldn’t be falling completely apart without Pickens, but the Steelers are.
This team is certainly better than recent Steelers teams that have been no threat in the playoffs, but they’re still a ways off from being the team they want to be — one that can win multiple games in January.