When the Steelers were 0-3 and even 1-4, it seemed like the playoff was a fairytale. But we fast forward to now and Pittsburgh sits at 7-5 coming off a huge win over the Cleveland Browns and their season still has life. This win was huge for the Steelers and we learned a little more about this team. Here are our three big takeaways.
Coaching matters
The Steelers coaching staff has historically taken a ton of criticism. And in many cases rightfully so. But the effort by this group to keep this team on track while dealing with more significant injuries than any team should. This is especially true of head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner should be applauded for their adjustments at halftime.
The defense is great but flawed
In the second half the Steelers defense switched some things up and put the clamps on the Browns offense. But even then, the one real flaw with this defense continued to pop up. The Steelers defense is young, athletic and high energy but there is a level of strength and physicality missing. Some of this is attributed to the absence of defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt who is a stout run defender. But there are still times when it would be great to have a big, run-stuffing nose guard to come in and eat up blockers.
The starting QB job belongs to the Duck
I can’t see any scenario where Devlin Hodges isn’t named the starting quarterback for this week’s game. And assuming he continues to perform the way he has, should be the starter going forward. Hodges is playing with much more confidence than Mason Rudolph and seems to really have the confidence of his teammates. No one expects the offense to score 30 a game but they need an offense to be efficient and not turn the football over. Hodges gives them that.
