Sure, the Pittsburgh Steelers were victorious on Monday night. And sure, they scored three touchdowns, but only one was provided by the offense.
The Steelers mustered just 255 yards of total offense (including 55 on 21 carries) and nine first downs in a 26-22 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Monday. And those totals came after Pittsburgh had just 239 total yards in a 30-7 shellacking by the San Francisco 49ers in the season opener on Sept. 10.
“We’re not going to have knee-jerk reactions in terms of trying to make wholesale changes in an effort to change that outcome, but we do acknowledge two (games are) a pattern,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday. “We’ve had two outings that are not up to snuff in that regard. It has our attention as we’re preparing for the next one. We’re all in this thing together — we’re not assigning blame for anyone. Obviously, it starts with coaching — we’ve got to coach better.”
Pittsburgh’s lone offensive touchdown came on Kenny Pickett’s 71-yard pass to George Pickens. On the play, Pickett accumulated 55 yards after the catch.
The Steelers (1-1) will look for improvement in Sunday night’s road game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
A significant portion of fans in attendance at Acrisure Stadium on Monday appeared to cast plenty of blame at the feet of offensive coordinator Matt Canada. “Fire Canada” chants were heard during the fourth quarter.
“I appreciate their passion,” Tomlin said of the chants. “I share their passion. We all do. We love our fans. They inspire us, they challenge us; it’s an awesome relationship. We don’t run from challenges — we run to challenges. This is the sports entertainment business. It is our job to win and thus entertain them, and so we don’t begrudge them for that. We want them to be fat and sassy and spoiled. It is our job.”
Canada, 51, is in his third season as the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers are averaging just 3.1 yards per carry, which ranks 27th in the NFL. They’ve also punted a league high-tying 13 times this season.
–Field Level Media