The Steelers are not the only underachieving team in the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and even the Kansas City Chiefs are also 1-2 so the local club has some distinguished company.
Of course, in Pittsburgh, we are told to not seek comfort, by coach Mike Tomlin his own self. But, while many of us may immediately reach for the proverbial panic button (it is fun, after all) Tomlin isn't about to do that, either.
"We are not going to push the panic button," the coach insisted at his weekly news conference. "We are not going to dramatically change who and what we are at this juncture."
"We have to continually do a better job as a staff to have an understanding of what are strengths and weaknesses are from a personnel standpoint and play to our strengths and minimize our weaknesses," he continued.
Okay, but what are those strengths? Since injuries have clearly hurt the defense and led to some big-play breakdowns. I wondered what Tomlin considered strengths on offense since they seem few and far between. He actually went on for just over a minute.
"Man, we've got a quality set of eligibles," he began.
"They're somewhat young but they're not young in terms of football experience.
Guys like JuJu and Claypool and Diontae and James Washington have made a lot of plays for us. We've got talent and a variety of talent at the tight end position and different skill sets. Pat (Freiermuth), although new, has added to that and you've seen evidence of that over the first few weeks."
We've also seen too many drops and, lately, injuries to Johnson and Smith-Schuster have complicated matters. Tomlin went on.
"Even though he lacks experience, Najee (Harris) has shown in a very short period of time that he is game and capable of doing what is required in terms of being a featured runner, etc., etc.," he continued. I think we can all agree on that but, of course, the rookie running back needs help which has not been forthcoming, although Tomlin did have something nice to say about a lineman.
"I like Trai Turner and the veteran experience and expertise that he brings, but he is a member of a unit," Tomlin continued but that's where the strengths stopped. "Many of those guys don't have that experience that he has. It's cool to see him mentor and share that experience with others but he can't do it fast enough. We can't do it fast enough."
So there it is. While Turner's play is apparently nothing to spit at (sorry, couldn't resist) the line play is going to continue to hold those eligibles back for the foreseeable future.
By the time that unit comes around, it may be too late for even the panic button.
