Despite starting an undrafted rookie at quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers would a way to hold off the Los Angeles Chargers 24-17 on Sunday night. The win puts the Steelers at 2-4 heading into their bye week. Here are our three big takeaways from the game.
The defense is talented but not deep
For three quarters, the Steelers defense absolutely smothered the Chargers offense. But once the injuries to defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt, cornerback Joe Haden and linebacker Mark Barron started to pile up, the lack of depth showed itself. Los Angeles was able to score 17 straight points late in the game in large part because the Steelers defense was tired. Lack of depth along the defensive line and outside linebackers as well as in the secondary reared its head and the Chargers were able to move the football.
That gameplan won’t work every week
Pittsburgh came out with the goal of taking as much off the plate of Devlin Hodges as they could. Head coach Mike Tomlin rallied the defense and run game to lighten his load and it worked. But this cannot be the gameplan going forward. Teams are going to stack the box and force Pittsburgh to throw it. We assume Mason Rudolph will be back after the bye week but don’t expect Pittsburgh to stick with such a conservative scheme going forward.
This win doesn’t bring false hope
But I’m not sure it brings real hope either. Pittsburgh is 2-4 and the division-leading Baltimore Ravens are 4-2. But the next two for Baltimore are the Seattle Seahawks on the road and the New England Patriots. If the Steelers can come back and beat the Miami Dolphins at the bye and the Ravens drop two they are a half-game out of the AFC North lead.
