Steelers @ Colts All-22 Rewatch: The Offense
Well, I didn’t have the Steelers going 17-0 this season, so that first loss had to come eventually. The Steelers marched into the ‘LAHD HAHSE’ in Indianapolis for a bizarre game against the Colts that resulted in a 27-24 loss for the Steelers. I call the game bizarre, because Indianapolis looked like the better team to me, and yet, the Steelers should’ve won that game. The offense seemed ready to put this team on its back at times, but still made costly mistakes when shit got tight.
Everyone will jump ship on this team right now, because the defense, which I've hailed as being the league’s best, got exposed. If I’m being honest, I’m kinda happy the defense got humbled this early on in the season. I’d prefer that those guys come into Cowboys week motivated and ready to get back to work and get better, and that showing against the Colts offense on Sunday likely achieved that. Also, when the offense was clawing back in the game in the second half, I thought the defense came together and made the necessary stops when they had to.
As for the offense, you have to be at least somewhat excited seeing a Steelers QB throw for over 300 yards for the first time since 2022. Justin Fields finished the game with 312 passing yards and 3 total touchdowns. That’s nice, but it came with loads of ugly from the rest of the offense, including a 1.5 average yards per carry for Najee Harris, head-scratching turnovers, and of course, penalties. So, let’s dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly from the film; specifically on the offensive side of the ball.
The Good
Well, since I already mentioned him, let’s go ahead and kick it off with Justin Fields. Fields played what I would consider to be, perhaps, his best game as a pro. I say that, because he was basically asked to go out there and win the game with his arm, and he almost did. When I say that, I don’t mean how he was asked to do it in Chicago week in and week out because they were trash. The Steelers have strong pieces on both sides of the ball capable of keeping them in games. But when those pieces, like the defense and the run game, are having an off day…can Justin Fields keep you in the game with his arm? In my opinion, we got our answer, and it’s yes.
Plays like this one are why Fields has the potential to be special. You’ve got the ball with a little over a minute left in the first half, down 17-0, 2nd & long, and you NEED points on this drive. Spencer Anderson (#74) and Dan Moore Jr. (#65) both get beat on this play, so Fields leaves the pocket, running full speed to his left, and delivers an intermediate/long ball to Pat Freiermuth, who shakes and bakes his way up field for a 29-yard gain. I think this play pretty well encapsulates why Fields' skill set might be the best fit for the Steelers RIGHT NOW while the team is battling attrition at various spots in the offensive line. With that being said, his ability to accurately throw the ball while running FAST to his left is ELITE.
This is a play that I’m sure the true, diehard yinzers went absolutely NUTS for. Justin Fields takes the snap, does a play-action fake, doesn’t like what he sees, and takes off left, lowering his shoulder and taking a shot as he falls into the end zone. This was his second touchdown run of the game, both of which came in the red zone. Fields’ legs are nightmares for defensive coordinators looking to defend us in the red zone. Of course, you don’t want your QB taking hits like that, but I fuckin LOVE to see the toughness from Fields when it does happen.
Justin Fields wasn’t the only guy on the offense that played in Indy with some grit. (Perhaps) Necessary Context: I started watching the all-22 of this game after watching the MNF game between the Seahawks and the Lions. During the broadcast for that game, one of the announcers made a comment about the willingness of the Lions’ receivers to run block, and it made me wonder who, in the Steelers’ run-heavy offense, likes to get their hands dirty, blocking on the outside. That’s not typically something I look for when I go back to watch the tape over. So, I paid close attention to that in this game, and Van Jefferson is NOT a scared individual. The clip above is just one example of many that I saw of Van Jefferson getting physical with someone on run plays. He finished the game with 2 catches for 21 yards, but his effort play in and play out is not something that yinz will see in the box score. I don’t necessarily think any of his blocks in Indianapolis were difference-making plays, but he wasn’t taking plays off and he showed a willingness to do it when he was called upon. He deserves a shoutout for that.
There weren’t really any other receivers that made any significant impact, other than George Pickens, of course. Remember back in the Killer B era when Antonio Brown just felt inevitable? Like at some point, that dude is going to make a damn play. That’s how I feel about Pickens these days. He is inevitable, as he was on this long ball in the 3rd quarter for 38 yards. He was Pittsburgh’s top target, finishing the game with 7 catches for 113 yards. Of course, he did have a head-scratching mistake that cost the Steelers some points, but more on that later.
How ‘bout another trip down memory lane: remember that Vance McDonald stiff arm in Tampa Bay from six or seven years ago? This play by BIG Darnell Washington was reminiscent of that, dribbling a Colts DB’s head off the turf, and hurdling another guy en route to a 20-yard gain. Steeler fans far and wide have been on pins and needles waiting for Washington’s usage in the pass game to increase. He was only targeted twice against the Colts, but if he keeps making plays like this…they have to start drawing up plays for him…right?
The Bad
There were some dog shit moments by the offense, as well. This clip was the third play of the game, and as you can see, Broderick Jones (#77) gets absolutely SMOKED at the RT position. Colts’ Isaiah Land (#55) blows right by Jones and DRILLS Justin Fields on 3rd down. Luckily for the Steelers, Land took Fields down with his body weight, and was flagged for roughing the passer on this play. It still doesn’t change the fact that Jones was outclassed on this rep. It was an UGLY start to this game for the offensive line.
Fast forward towards the end of the first quarter, Fields takes the snap from under center and hands it off to Najee Harris who takes it behind Mason McCormick for one yard. It was a pretty bad rep and bad play design, but it’s the situation the Steelers were in at this point that I wanted to talk about. A few plays earlier, on first down, Justin Fields hit Pat Freiermuth for a 7-yard completion. It was 2nd down with 3 yards to go for the first, approaching midfield. We ran on second down for one yard, ran on third down for one yard (the clip above), and ran on 4th down (immediately after the above clip), and couldn’t convert, turning the ball over on downs. In the first three weeks, we built a reputation for being this team that is extremely tough in the trenches, and we couldn’t get three yards on three runs against a Colts’ defense that, quite frankly, is TERRIBLE against the run, and was missing some players? We can’t have that. If Najee wants to get paid next summer, he needs to get me one yard on third down. I don’t care about the injuries to the o-line. But also, what’s up with the play calling? 2nd & 3…run, run, run? Everyone needed to be better there. It’s worth noting that earlier this week, Justin Fields told the media that he doesn’t have the power to audible out of running plays.
The Ugly
I don’t know what it is about George Pickens; when he fumbles, it just looks SO egregious. I thought the same exact thing when he fumbled the ball in the wild card game against the Bills last season. I mean, just look at the clip above. Does he not look like he’s purposely throwing the ball on the turf? It’s such an unserious looking moment for a guy that I think has the potential to be a top 5 receiver in this league. At this point in the game, we were down 17-0, with just over 3 minutes left in the second quarter. We knew we were getting the second half kickoff, and a touchdown here could’ve changed the direction of this game in a serious way. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat themselves in a myriad of ways against the Colts, but I genuinely believe this fumble cost them the game. With the way the game had gone to this point, ball security should’ve been at the forefront of everyone’s mind, especially down in the red zone. I love George Pickens, and he ended up having a hell of a game. However, I fear you will have these head-scratching moments with him throughout his career.
Pickens wasn’t the only Steeler to fumble the ball in a ridiculous way against the Colts. Justin Fields had this blunder (above) right around the 7:00 minute mark in the 3rd quarter that was also costly and head-scratching. Here’s the thing, Justin Fields has probably forgotten more football in his young life than I’ll ever know…so I assume he was capable of identifying that the somebody from the Colts was going to get to him unblocked, so he needed to be quick. I picked up on that during the live broadcast. Two guys came unblocked, and Fields did the Chicago-Bears-Fields-Special and ran backwards and to his left before eventually slipping and falling to the turf; losing the ball in the process. That play is exactly the kind of thing Bears fans warned us about, and understandably so. It’s ugly. With that being said, Justin Fields was wearing a cape during this game, and I understand why he felt the desperation to make something happen.
The last thing I want to talk about that happened to the offense in this game is the C/QB exchange at the end that basically cost us the game. I appreciate Fields coming out and taking ownership for this particular instance, but this issue has been a constant since the preseason. Fields clearly prefers to work out of the shotgun, but in loud environments, on silent counts, it gets really ugly. In Indianapolis, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time, and we had to dig ourselves out of a 2nd & 22 hole, which we were unable to do. Game over. Again, that’s wonderful that he’s taking ownership of the problem….but what’re we going to do about it? It’s frustrating.
It seems strange to say that the offense continued to improve in this game after spending the last 1000 words talking about all the dumb shit they did, but they really did improve. We were moving the ball, basically, at will in the second half, which is kinda what I thought we would do all game. It’s miraculous to me that we finished this game with 24 points. If we didn’t keep unloading gunshots into our feet, we probably could’ve dropped 40+ in this game, and I’m only exaggerating a LITTLE bit. It was nice to see that Fields is capable of producing nearly 400 yards (pass and rush) in the event we find ourselves in another shootout any time soon. There’s some level of validity to the ‘Tomlin loses to bad teams’ accusations. The defense came out with absolutely NO fire in this game, and the offense took every opportunity humanely possible to hand this game to the Colts. IT WAS A DAMN TRAP. The officiating was horrible, too. ALL OF THOSE MISTAKES, AND GOING AGAINST THE REFS TOO, AND WE STILL HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN IT IN THE TWO MINUTE DRILL AT THE END. Good teams claw their way back into games. Great teams complete the comeback. We are a damn good team, in my opinion. But, we’re not great yet. I’m higher on the Steelers after the Colts game than I was before it…but there’s work to be done.
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