Pittsburgh Needs To Manage The Course
Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
I suck at golf. The way I play is beyond frustrating. It’s not because I don’t understand how to play the game and it’s not because I don’t know how to hit a ball. Some days, I do. The reason I suck at golf, at least by my diagnosis, is because I seemingly cannot put it all together. Not once have I putted, chipped, hit my irons, and gotten off the tee box well all in the same round. Some days I can drive but I can’t seem to drop a putt. On other days, I top my iron shots and my first putt is for a double bogey but I sink it. I do not belong on nice golf courses, let alone the Korn Ferry Tour.
Unfortunately, through four weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers have looked eerily similar to my golf game. Facets of the offense, defense, special teams, and coaching have all had above-average performances, but not once have multiple groups on that list performed at the same time.
Take week two against the Cleveland Browns, for example. The offense showed small improvements in the passing game but was utterly terrible on the ground. The defense outscored the offense and they walked away victors, but everyone had a bad taste in their mouths.
Against the Las Vegas Raiders, special teams were able to make up for a hollow offense that only managed a singular big play over the top to secure points. The Canada-Pickett experiment consistently put the offense at risk of giving up bad field position, but Pressley Harvin III kept the Raiders at bay, as did the defense.
Putts were rolling with the run game in the second half against the Texans. Najee Harris averaged over five yards a carry and was gashing the Houston defense. On a critical fourth down, the Steelers sat on the fringe. They had a choice: grab the wedge or grab the putter. Instead of continuing to play with the clubs that had been working and roll one close to the pin, they elected to try and flop it. The result was a skulled ball that flew across the green. Suddenly, the game was out of reach. Of course, Kenny Pickett was hit and his knee was hurt in the process, but as Happy Gilmore would say, “He shouldn’t have been standing there.”
You’ll notice I’ve omitted Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers. There’s no need for examination, It was the equivalent of shooting a 10 on the first hole and then driving your cart into a pond.
Some feel the Steelers need new clubs. A new quarterback, a new RB1, hell Colin Cowherd said T.J. Watt should be traded to go get Caleb Williams.
Others blame the caddy. Signs with “Fire Canada” have shown up in stadiums that the Steelers aren’t even in. Certainly, Acrisure will have many banners and chants echoing the same sentiment.
What is apparent, though, is that the whole situation is a mess. Does it start with Rooney and Tomlin? Yes. Does it fall squarely on their shoulders? That remains to be seen.
The landscape is changing in Pittsburgh. The rallying cry of the Tomlin faithful (I am typically one of them) relying on never having a season below .500 is no longer the trump card in any argument. Results in the playoffs, or a playoff berth for that matter, is the new requirement.
In a recent articleI pondered what it would take for Matt Canada to keep his job. A playoff win for the black and gold? An AFC Championship appearance? Too vague. The Steelers need to consistently get off the tee box moving forward. The offense can no longer win games just by holding on while the defense either smothers their opponents or is able to score themselves. (And after last week we certainly can’t rely on that as a given this season.)
But here’s the other thing about me and golf. I keep coming back to the course. No matter what happens I still have hope that one day I’m going to put it all together.
There is still hope that the Steelers could win the AFC North, but they need to stop relying on flashy individual moments to barely get by. Just slow down and start making the simple plays. They don’t need to shoot 20 under par, they need to reign it in and start to manage the course.
This Sunday they play a divisional opponent and quarterback that they typically cause problems for, at least once a season. The Steelers are on hole five now, (this is typically where I fully implode) and they have to acknowledge they’ve snuck away with a couple of wins. If they can calm down and find some tempo in their game, they may be alright, but right now it is bleak, to say the least. Hopefully, some time at the range over the bye will help, but one thing is for sure: There isn’t enough time to restructure the entire bag, so they have to figure it out with the clubs they’ve got.
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