Tom’s Ten Takes – Steelers Vs Colts

After every game of the Steelers 2024 season, I’ll give you my 10 takes again. These won’t be hot takes meant to shock the world. These are immediate reactions to the game, written in the post-game period when emotions are high and ideas are fresh. Included are thoughts, observations, questions, and reasons that led me to yell at the television.

Week 4 of the regular season vs. Indianapolis Colts

1. Listen to music – Earlier this season, pundits across the football universe praised the Steelers’ defense. And they deserved it, the defense had looked very good. Maybe the defense bought into the hype. They were bad on every level today. The defensive line was manhandled and the linebackers couldn’t get out of the blocks in the run game.

If you add outside players who don’t have the edge, it’s disastrous. The defensive backs couldn’t keep up with any of the receivers in man coverage and were dissected in the zone. Add to that bad tackles where you give up many yards after contact, and you get what you saw.

2. Heavy Traffic – The offensive side of the ball wasn’t much better. Watching them was like driving in heavy traffic. You start moving and then it slows down. Then it starts moving again, only to come to a complete standstill. You think it’s going to open up and then there’s another slowdown. One last chance for free sailing and a pig hits your windshield (football up to the face mask). When you finally get to the end of the line, you think: “That was shit.” That’s how I feel about the offense today.

3. Land of Confusion – This is a minor issue as all fan bases can complain about the management at any game, but my goodness, Land Clark and his team were bad today. The unnecessary roughness call against Minkah Fitzpatrick. A soft defensive pass bothers Joey Porter. Donte Jackson was pulled down on the head and didn’t get a pass interference call against the Colts. Blatantly attacking the attacked player in an attempt to prevent them from making the next move. Indianapolis DB Jaylon Jones and Samuel Womack III both could have been cited for interference. Just confusing calls, the whole game.

4. Wavy Kazee – I mentioned last week that Calvin Austin was close to breaking up a big punt return and he almost did. A few more blocks and maybe it would have happened. Did you notice Damontae Kazee to Austin’s left waving him forward? It might not have made a difference, but if Kazee had come back to try to make a block instead of acting like Mike Rabelo waving Bryan Reynolds to the third, Austin might have been able to score. Don’t be a spectator, be a participant.

5. Heavy Thoughts – We’ve seen it all season. The Steelers are running a lot of tight end plays. That’s Arthur Smith’s style and it also fits Mike Tomlin’s personality. The problem is that it is extremely limited and teams have started to adapt. To date, the Steelers have run the ball 67% of the time (4.25 yards per run) with three or four tight ends on the field. When attempting to pass, they completed nine of 13 passes for 45 yards. If you add a scramble for 4 yards and 2 sacks for -12 yards, you get 37 yards on 16 dropbacks (2.31 yards per play).

The defenders are not threatened by the tight ends on this roster and are starting to assert themselves against strong personnel. The philosophy of using multiple tight ends is fine, but if production is limited, they may want to limit themselves to short yardage.

6. Stop it – Another game, another snap problem. This has become an epidemic and I think everyone is to blame. A rookie center probably has something to do with it. Having multiple teammates play the left guard position, the position that signals to Zach Frazier when to snap, is likely one reason why. Miscommunication and confusion over snap counting could be part of the problem. Today was the worst possible time and cost them the chance to complete the comeback. Fix it, people!

7. Late for the goal – I have to preface this by saying that I like him and want him to succeed. However, Najee Harris could hurt this running game. He simply isn’t quick enough to get to the line of scrimmage after handoff. He also doesn’t have the juice to run outside. Every running back on the roster is faster than him.

Before the injury, 33-year-old Cordarrelle Patterson, with 12 years of wear and tear, was capable of ripping off runs of 4, 12, 14, 11, 9 and 10. Harris came in for a throw on that drive and got 1 yard on a throw play. I know the offensive line hasn’t gotten much better in this one series. Then runners must be deployed who can hit the hole before it closes.

8. Fear of running – It’s not entirely obvious that the second and longer plays are at Tomlin’s behest. If there is any doubt as to whether it was Matt Canada’s decision to do this, we know that it is not true. Smith does the same thing. I understand the argument. Running on the second and long route is closed attempt to get some mileage to make it third and more manageable. Most of the time they only make minimal profits and it is still the third and long way. For someone who doesn’t want to live in their fears, it certainly seems like an ineffective and safe option.

9. Let Justin Cook – It’s time to take off the reins. Yes, I think his internal clock was a little slow today. He has to make some decisions faster. But every week, as soon as they let it open a little, it produces. With few playmakers on offense, and by limited I mean George Pickens, they need to let the best athlete out there show what he can do before they fall behind by double digits. We saw this defense play with a lead. Open up the offense a little and let Fields take the lead.

10. What did you think? – After the two-minute warning at the 46-yard line, the Steelers ran the ball 4 yards. That put them at 42 and on the edge of Chris Boswell’s range. After that play, I immediately thought he was going for a field goal. The next move was the unfortunate slap in the face. I feel like any other NFL team would get away with it. Work downwards to achieve victory. They had all the momentum and once again I thought Tomlin was too safe. What do you say?