Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers was a heartbreaker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aside from the fact the team fell to 0-3 on the season, the way the team lost was just brutal to watch unfold. When a team can play so well in some aspects but so poorly at others it is hard to think about what version of this team we will see next.
We will expand on all these subjects in the coming days but for now, here are nine quick takeaways from the Steelers loss.
Mason Rudolph is going to be fine
There are going to be plenty of people criticize the play of Rudolph and there’s no denying he didn’t he had a rough first start. But when you consider how poor the offensive line played and the absolute lack of run game, it’s hard to be too critical. His two touchdown throws were perfect and once he gets comfortable with the notion of going through his reads, will be much better if his teammates can do their jobs.
Pittsburgh needs help at the skill positions
This is especially true at tight end. Vance McDonald went out with a shoulder injury the lack of depth hit hard. Even if the Steelers don’t feature the tight end in the passing game, McDonald is reliable and his ability to shore up the edge in the run offense is solid too. Xavier Grimble is a complete non-factor in both categories and Zach Gentry is an unknown as of now.
This team misses Mike Munchak
We’ve said it here multiple times but the absence of Mike Munchak will be felt more than that of Antonio Brown or Le’Veon Bell. The offensive line, in particular tackles Matt Feiler and Alejandro Villanueva looked lost on Sunday. These guys don’t play with the intensity and technique of previous season and it all comes back to the influence of their former offensive line coach.
All those athletes on defense aren’t helping yet
The middle of the Steelers defense on the second and third level are all former first-round picks. Terrell Edmunds, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Mark Barron and Devin Bush could be one of the most athletic foursomes in the NFL. But play after play the 49ers just gashed this group on the ground and through the air.
Chris Boswell is back
The takeaways can’t all be bad, right? It has been great through three games to see how good kicker Chris Boswell has played. He still hasn’t missed a kick and seems like he’s back to 100% physically and mentally.
What’s up with Ryan Switzer?
We’ve been huge fans of Switzer since he came to the Steelers but he seems to have completely disappeared from the offense. He isn’t injured because he still returning kicks but we have to wonder why he’s not been involved of the offense at all this season.
Minkah Fitzpatrick started fast then faded
It didn’t take long for Fitzpatrick to get the Steelers fanbase excited. And interception and forced fumble early in the game gave Pittsburgh a nice look at what he’s capable of. He then faded out of sight and finished the game with only five tackles after having three in the first quarter. This might mean he fits right in with a defense that seems to fade every week.
Where does coaching fall in this loss?
The debate this week will be all about how much this loss falls on the coaches and how much falls on the players. We will dig into this a ton over the next couple of days but a case could be made this coaching staff is failing miserably to utilize the volume of talent on this roster.
