Steelers @ Jaguars Game Review

The Steelers fell to 4-3 after a 20-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

In what was a sloppy affair, the Steelers started the game off looking for an immediate strike as Kenny Pickett targeted Diontae Johnson deep down the middle of the field. While it wasn’t a perfect throw by Pickett, Johnson should really have brought the ball in for what would have been a huge gain, and possibly a 75-yard touchdown to start the game. Instead, the pass was incomplete. Following that play the Steelers were able to get nothing going and went 3 and out to start the game yet again. This time, though, Matt Canada cannot be blamed, as the call for the pass to Johnson was a perfect one, just not executed properly. Jacksonville’s first drive saw them get points as Brandon McManus made a 50-yard field goal to give his side the lead. This drive did include a questionable pass interference call on James Pierre on 3rd down when he seemed to have forced a pass break up on Calvin Ridley. This was the first of many controversial calls from the refs. The Steelers’ second drive saw more disappointment. Another 3 and out, with two Najee Harris runs for minimal gains, followed by an incomplete pass to Diontae Johnson that should have been intercepted and gone the other way. The Jaguars kept the pattern going as they once again marched into Pittsburgh territory to add on 3 more points, with a big 26-yard catch from Calvin Ridley being their main chunk play of the drive. On their 3rd drive of the game, the Steelers looked as if they were going to get their first 1st down of the day when Pickett found Johnson over the middle, but Johnson did what he does too often and instead of cutting up field immediately, tried to find the long way round and was tackled about 2 yards short of the sticks. After a run for no gain by Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh took to the air as Pickett looked for George Pickens down the left sideline, but an underthrow by Pickett saw Darious Williams break up the pass and the punt unit was back on for the Steelers. This was another throw Pickett should have had, in a game to forget for the young quarterback. The story of the Steelers’ defense for most of the game was bend but don’t break, and that was fully embodied on the Jaguars’ third drive as Kwon Alexander forced a fumble in the redzone, which Cole Holcomb recovered to get the ball back in Kenny Pickett’s hands. Yet again though, it was a 3 and out for the Steelers, and as a jet sweep to Calvin Austin went for no gain, Pittsburgh’s stats on offense in the first quarter were: 10 plays, 7 yards, 0 first downs. An abysmal showing even for this unit that has been one of the worst in the league all year. To make the first quarter worse for the Steelers, their all-pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick suffered a hamstring injury, and was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Yet again, it seemed the Steelers would only be able to win this game because of their defense. Once again, the defense gave up a big drive, with Calvin Ridley continuing to have success. But once again they made a splash play to keep them in the game. On 1st and goal from the Steelers’ 6-yard line, Trevor Lawrence made a rare mistake as he tried to find Ridley in the end zone, but Steelers safety Damontae Kazee came down with the ball and stepped out of bounds at the 2-yard line. The offensive drive that followed finally saw some success for the Steelers. A 12-yard pass to Diontae Johnson gave the Steelers their first 1st down of the day. Pittsburgh’s biggest play of the drive was a pass deep over the middle intended for Calvin Austin, that was incomplete, but forced a pass interference penalty on linebacker Foyesade Oluokun. Three more catches from Johnson helped the Steelers on their way top a 1st and goal at the 8-yard line of Jacksonville. After two plays for minimal gains, it was a 3rd and goal at the 5. Having driven the ball 93 yards downfield from where they started, anything but a touchdown would be a big disappointment for the offense. As Pickett dropped back to pass, he had a wide-open Diontae Johnson in the endzone, but threw it behind his receiver, and on a very wet day, Johnson slipped, and the field goal unit was out. To go 93 yards and come out with only 3 points is not acceptable, and that has been the story of the offense this season, unacceptable performances. Johnson’s wait for a touchdown goes on, having not had one since the 2021 season. Once again, Pickett missed a throw that should have been routine. The Jaguars were able to respond again, but only with a field goal to make it 9-3. Once again, the Steelers’ defense had stalled them in the redzone. This gave the Steelers just over a minute with one timeout left to try get some points before halftime. This is where the referee controversy really shone through. A Pickett scramble to Jacksonville’s 39-yard line saw him fumble the ball forwards after Oluokun forced the ball out. The spot somehow didn’t give the Steelers a first down, even though it couldn’t be clearer that the ball was past the marker. After review, Pittsburgh was given the first down, but a 10-second run-off of the clock was ruled as Pickett fumbled it forwards, despite it not being intentional. It seems the officials making an error was the reason for a 10-second runoff. Pittsburgh kept their timeout and there was now 17 seconds remaining. The next play Pickett took a big hit, which was lead with the helmet by Adam Gotsis. He also landed with his full body weight on Pickett, and the Steelers’ quarterback was injured. There was no call for roughing the passer, despite multiple factors in the play pointing towards that being the case, and also despite a call on Pittsburgh earlier for roughing the passer on what was a textbook tackle on Lawrence. Pickett’s injury saw the Steelers lose their timeout even though the pass was ruled incomplete, and the clock was stopped. Eventually, Boswell knocked in a 55-yard field goal, but it was taken away for ‘offensive offsides’ on Isaac Seumalo, a completely incorrect call, and one that Mike Tomlin had never seen in 17 years of coaching. Boswell then missed a now 61-yard attempt, and the score was 9-3 at halftime. We are not ones to blame refs, and they weren’t the sole reason for Pittsburgh’s loss, but the Steelers were robbed of 3 points at the end of the first half.

The second half started with another turnover by the Steelers defense. This time it was Nick Herbig who forced the ball free, and Keanu Neal recovered for the Steelers. Unfortunately for the defense, the offense did nothing with the ball. With Mitch Trubisky now in at quarterback, Pittsburgh went backwards on their 3 plays, and punted right back to Jacksonville, who then had a 3 and out of their own. Like most Steelers games, this was an ugly affair, and as the offense got the ball back yet again, fans were hoping that there would be some sort of spark. On a 3rd and 7 that looked to be the case as Trubisky found Pickens deep down the right sideline, and the Steelers receiver brought in the ball spectacularly. Pickens failed to play hurry-up offense, though, and a Jaguars challenge made it clear that his second foot was an inch out of bounds. An incredible attempt by Pickens, but the correct call. Pittsburgh punted again. 2 plays later, and the Pittsburgh defense finally broke. Lawrence found his running back, Travis Etienne, down the right sideline, who took it all the way for a 56-yard touchdown. It looked like a Cover-2 defense for the Steelers, meaning Kazee the safety should have stayed in coverage over the top. Instead, as the ball was in the air, Kazee tried to undercut it, but had horribly misjudged it, which gave Etienne a free path to the endzone. It is likely that if Minkah Fitzpatrick was on the field, this play wouldn’t have happened. The Steelers offense needed to respond, and finally they did. A solid drive, compiled of mainly passes, ended in a 22-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens, who found himself open over the middle and just nonchalantly hurdled a defender and jogged into the endzone. It was Pickens’ only catch of the day, but even with just this one catch, he showed how talented he is at the wide receiver position.

As the 4th quarter started, the Steelers were yet again somehow in the game. Jacksonville, though, still looked in good shape as they found themselves at the Steelers’ 32-yard line. However, on 3rd and 10, Pittsburgh’s best player stepped up. TJ Watt raced around the rookie right tackle Anton Harrison to get to the quarterback along with Armon Watts who had collapsed the pocket through the middle. This forced a punt from the Jaguars and in a 17-10 game, the Steelers were getting the ball back. The drive started with a penalty on the Jaguars to give the Steelers a 1st and 5, and after yet another small gain on the ground, the Steelers had a 2nd and 3. The Steelers opted for a timeout after some confusion at the line of scrimmage. It is unclear what they discussed in the timeout, but Trubisky somehow felt it was necessary to target Allen Robinson deep downfield on a 2nd and 3, when Robinson was surrounded by three defenders. Andrew Wingard picked the ball off, on what was just a ridiculous play call and throw given the short yardage situation. The Jaguars had the ball at their own 41-yard line to start the drive. It looked at one point in the drive that a defensive stop was possible, when a holding penalty on Jacksonville meant they had a 1st and 20. Lawrence found Evan Engram over the middle on what looked like just a dump off play for a few yards, but Engram slipped a tackle attempt by Neal and escaped for a 34-yard gain. After this play it was just about clock management for the Jaguars. They kicked the field goal to make it 20-10 and the game was all but over. With four and a half minutes left, the Steelers needed some urgency given they were two scores down. The offense came out with the opposite of that. Dump off after dump off saw the clock drain, until the offense was left with a 4th and 16 at their own 40 with 2:25 left. An incomplete pass well short of the sticks summed up another dismal day for the offense. They did have one final drive that ended in an interception but that counted for nothing but statistics.

While there was lots of complaining about the refs by fans and players, and those complaints were justified, the Steelers did not deserve to win this game. The defense did do its job for the most part. Obviously, there was the mistake by Kazee on the touchdown, but given that they forced three turnovers and had to deal with the offense constantly punting, the defense put on a decent display. The offense, however, continues to be atrocious. The stat line of the rushing offense is a sorry sight. Warren had 5 carries for 19 yards, Harris had 7 for 13 yards. The rushing offense had 18 for 70 yards on 3.9 yards per carry in total. Before he went off injured, Pickett was not playing well at all, missing several routine throws, including one that would have been a touchdown. Trubisky showed why he is a perennial backup in this league when he came in, with some awful decision making. Mason Rudolph may have a shot at being the starter against the Titans given Pickett’s injury and Trubisky’s poor play, against a Jacksonville defense that was ranked second last in pass defense coming in.

In general, the Steelers still have a shot at the playoffs. They have a short turnaround as they face the Titans on TNF, and then the following week face the Packers. Those two teams are ones the Steelers will feel they can beat, so if they don’t come out of the Packers game at 6-3, it seems unlikely this team will be in the postseason.