Steelers: Five things from week three loss

By: Donny Chedrick

Photo creds to Triblive.com

The Steelers got a glimpse of what life was like without Ben Roethlisberger in Sunday’s loss in San Francisco.

It wasn’t all bad, but Pittsburgh yet again came up on the wrong end of the scoreboard, suffering a 24-20 loss to drop to 0-3 on the season. It was a tale of two halves – the offense was inept for the first 30 minutes while the defense forced turnover after turnover. In the second half, Mason Rudolph and the offense got going, even scoring a pair of touchdowns, but the defense struggled to stop anything as the 49ers scored with under 90 seconds left to take the lead.

 Another difficult weekis  ahead as the Steelers try to keep their season alive on Monday night against the Bengals. Before that, we’ll talk about five things from Sunday in San Fran.

1.     Rudolph was OK

Before you jump on the second-year quarterback coming off his first start in the NFL in a losing effort – go back and look at Ben Roethlisberger’s numbers from Sept. 26, 2004. Wait, I’ll just give them to you. 12-22, 163 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but the Steelers won that game in Miami.

On Sunday, Rudolph had better numbers in his first start as a Steeler. 14 completions on 27 attempts for 274 yards, a pair of touchdowns and one interception described the day for the Oklahoma State product. Although he had plenty of mistakes, the kid had signs of promise. The offensive playbook seemed limited, which is something fans hope to see change.

Rudolph had only two completions when he threw the ball more than five yards down the field. Both went for touchdowns.

2.     The Debut of Minkah

Last week, the Steelers did something they never seem to do – make a splash trade to acquire a big-name player. Pittsburgh got defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick for a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, a move that the fan base had mixed feeling about. I, for one, was a fan. The Steelers are not good at drafting or developing defensive backs and traded a pick that would have been likely used on that position anyway for a young, proven guy at the position for the next few seasons. On Sunday, Fitzpatrick made some mistakes, but he showed his value in multiple ways. It didn’t take long for the former Dolphin to have an impact against the 49ers.

On a deflected pass, Fitzpatrick picked off 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo and he wasn’t done there. Fitzpatrick later forced a fumble that the Steelers recovered, giving him credit for two of the five turnovers. It was high-risk to give away the team’s first pick in next year’s draft, but Fitzpatrick’s play can prove to be high reward for the Steelers secondary.

3.     Meaning of Mike Munchak

One of the off-season moves that didn’t raise as much concern as it should have was the departure of offensive line coach Mike Munchak, who took the same job with the Denver Broncos. In the last few seasons under the tutelage of Munchak, the Steelers’ offensive line was rated amongst the best in the league. On Sunday, it appeared the line lost some touch, even with perennial All-Pro’s, center Maurkice Pouncey and guard David DeCastro, along with a solid left side, including Ramon Foster and Alejandro Villanueva.

Although Rudolph was only sacked twice, he made a lot of throws quickly because of heavy pressure from the outside. The Steelers run game struggled yet again, with James Conner only totaling 43 yards and 13 carries (more about the run game later). It has been an unexpected area of struggle so far this season and it’s something the unit needs to figure out before it’s too late – if it isn’t already.

4.     Costly Conner and the invisible Jaylen Samuels

The running backs have been quiet in 2019, unlike the rushing attack of the last several years. In the first three games, Conner is showing regression more than progression after rushing for just 43 yards on Sunday and having his third costly fumble in recent memory. With the Steelers leading late and in possession of the football, Conner put it on the ground – giving San Francisco a short field to work with. The 49ers scored moments later, leaving the Steelers under 90 seconds to get into the endzone. Of course, you can’t blame the outcome of a game on one play, but that is a turnover that can’t be made in that spot. Conner needs a bounce back and hopefully it happens this week against Cincy.

Another question mark from Sunday afternoon was the misuse of Jaylen Samuels. Now in his second season, the running back has seen his role grow as his young career has gone on. However, Samuels was on the field for just 14 snaps Sunday and didn’t touch the ball once. Samuels doesn’t need significant carries every week, but he touched the ball twice against New England and three times against Seattle. He’s also a threat out of the backfield in the receiving game and wasn’t used for that Sunday either.

We’ll see how things go from here on with the Steelers backfield as it’s definitely a group that needs to get the wheels moving.

5.     The curious case of Vance McDonald

Last week, Vance McDonald was a highlight of the Steelers home opener loss against Seattle. This week, McDonald hauled in just one catch for ten yards. Now there is news that the Steelers tight end is suffering from an injury and may miss some time after being seen with his arm in a sling. That injury prompted the Steelers to make a trade for the second consecutive week by acquiring tight end Nick Vannett from Seattle in exchange for a fifth-round pick. The Steelers tight end position is in peril as Xavier Grimble could take over as the top guy on the depth chart for the next few weeks.