Pittsburgh Steelers Week 4 Preview: A Short Week On the Way to Cleveland

In defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in week three 30-27 after last week’s embarrassing loss to New England, someone obviously turned on the lights in the Steelers locker room. What we saw from the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium this past Sunday was a team that did a 360-degree turn around from a week before. How the Steelers performed is what Steelers Nation expected from their team before the season began.

The Steelers were clicking on all cylinders against Cincinnati and while it took one final spectacular play by Derrick Harmon to secure the win, everyone had the Bengals winning this game simply based on their terrific offense. Watching the game, I just kept thinking, this Bengals team led by Joe Burrow is downright scary. The combination of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in my opinion is the best 1-2 receiving due in the entire league.

Between Chase and Higgins these two can strike at any given moment. Between those two facing Pittsburgh they combined for 15 receptions and 188 yards through the air. Each had a touchdown catch. Higgins gained excellent position while being defended on his score and Steelers fans need to remember who we were defending against. This Bengals offense is incredible. Joe Burrow is absolutely one of the top five quarterbacks in the league. He proved that last Sunday.

Facing what was a stout Pittsburgh defense, Burrow still found his receivers even in tight coverage. That’s because Ja’Marr Chase I believe is the best receiver in the business. He’s absolutely amazing. Throw it his way and he catches it. Higgins has sure hands and the ability to get in front of a defender. One thing is for sure; Mike McCarthy was expected to make the Steelers offense more of a threat and boy did they react and respond last Sunday.

The Steelers were holding the longest streak of games not scoring more than seven points in the first quarter and the last time they did it was facing these same Bengals. This time around, they scored 14 in the first period. As for Joe Burrow he was flawless facing the Steelers completing 28 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. He threw no interceptions and was sacked just once. His QBR was 123.9. Unfortunately for him he waited until the game’s final play to make a game ending critical error.

Already in tying field goal position with under a minute to play in the game, Burrow dropped in the pocket to attempt a pass but Derrick Harmon evaded his blocker bull rushing him and got to Burrow hitting him which forced a fumble and the Steelers recovered…GAME OVER. If not for Harmon, the game would have been tied and possibly worse. The Pittsburgh defense played outstanding. They held Cincinnati to just 83 yards rushing. The Bengals had 282 yards passing but as indicated above, 188 yards went to the Chase/Higgins combination. That left 94 yards that were credited to Mike Gesicki, Dohnte Meyers, and Tanner Hudson for the most part.

Burrow was not the only player who fumbled for the Bengals. Ke’Shawn Williams muffed a punt recovered by the Steelers that turned into points. The longest run from scrimmage for Cincinnati was only 13 yards by Chase Brown. As for the rest of the Steelers defense, Patrick Queen was all over the place making 13 tackles, four of them solo, one for a loss, and one pass defended. Everyone on defense contributed in one way or another but again, the hero of the day was Derrick Harmon.

This defensive performance was without Joey Porter Jr. and the longer he stays away I believe the stronger the chances become of him being traded away. While he is out, others step up. Seasoned veterans like Jalen Ramsey, Jaquan Brisker, Rayshawn Jenkins, and Jamel Dean all were added to the team this past offseason and they together made a combined 30 tackles against the Bengals 15 solos between the quad.

Other notables from the game:

• Chris Boswell was Chris Boswell. Three out of three field goal attempts all made. 44 yards the long.
  Cameron Johnston lined up to punt twice and took a hard shot to the leg on one as running into the kicker was called giving the Steelers new life. On his only successful punt, it traveled 51 yards. Excellent.
• How about Jaylen Warren? Beast mode for sure. 127 yards rushing and a crazy 7.5 yards per carry number with a 35-yard romp his long despite having one even longer that was negated when DK Metcalf got caught for a hold. But Warren, with 49 yards receiving set his own new personal high for total yardage.
• You have to love Darnell Washington. Three catches for 67 yards but the dude was breaking tackles and rumbling forward. Cincinnati found out the hard way how difficult it is to bring the man down. 
• DK Metcalf made up for the early season drops scoring one touchdown and catching two other passes. Outside of his two holding calls he won back the respect of Steelers fans.
• Very quietly Ben Skowronek showed his is a big time NFL player. One touchdown receiving and a fumble recovery on the Bengals muffed kick return.
• Then there is Aaron Rodgers. Looking old and playing behind a porous offensive line the first two games, he was well protected in this one and looked almost like the A-Rod we knew in his prime.
• Finally, the offensive line. Steelers Nation breathed a collective WHEW watching them perform last Sunday. Whatever was said to them, this was a completely different unit then from the first two weeks. Rodgers was sacked twice and his one interception was a pass that should have been caught by Roman Wilson. 
• As for Wilson? It seems he has arrived … FINALLY. Three receptions and one 38-yarder for a touchdown. 
  It’s a short week so it’s on to the OTHER Ohio team, the surprising 2-1 Cleveland Browns so my breakdown and prediction follow.

WHEN THE STEELERS HAVE THE BALL

If we can expect the Steelers offense to stay in the groove they put themselves in versus Cincinnati, the Browns defense is in for a difficult day. Facing the Panthers, Cleveland’s defense allowed Chuba Hubbard to run for 82 yards. Despite beating Tampa, Bucky Irving ran at a 5.2 yards per carry clip finishing with 89 yards. When the Jaguars crushed the Browns on opening day Jacksonville finished with 126 yards on the ground. Bryce Young threw for 291 yards on Cleveland despite losing in week three.

So with all those numbers in the books, what do you think Jaylen Warren is going to do? It looks like Rico Dowdle is still unavailable with a bad toe so Warren will be the workhorse again. But watch for the passing game. What was on display at Acrisure Stadium in the victory of Cincinnati was a preview of what might come. Rodgers has probably never had the arsenal of weapons he has now and he put them on full display in outdueling Joe Burrow. 

Nine different players caught a Rodgers pass in week three and while Michael Pittman was on the end of two of those, I believe his best is yet to come. Germie Bernard is still learning the NFL system but watch out for that kid. I was worried about the Steelers getting into a shootout against Cincinnati and my gut said they would win but I went with my brain and picked against them. Mistake. If not for Derrick Harmon they very well may have lost that game but credit the Steelers offense for being able to go toe-to-toe with Joe Burrow and gang.

WHEN THE BROWNS HAVE THE BALL

Yea, Deshaun Watson is playing well, almost as good as he did when was with the Houston Texans. If you are a Steelers fan, does he scare you? Remember last year the Browns upended the Steelers in a major upset. But their offensive weapons are players the Steelers defense can manage. Quinshon Judkins ran for 70 against Carolina. But the Panthers defense simply does not have the talent the Steelers do. Believe me, the Steelers are going to bring the heat down on Watson. 

Cleveland will try to run the ball on Pittsburgh but check out old man Cameron Heyward. That old dude can still play with the best of them. That and a surging Derrick Harmon is Pittsburgh’s advantage. Yahya Black is another one to watch. He made some big plays in week two. The only advantage Cleveland will have is if the Steelers turn the ball over and give them good field position. Aaron Rodgers rarely creates a turnover and Pittsburgh’s other players protect the ball well.

INTANGIBLES

As Mike Tomlin is no longer the head coach we will find out if new head coach Mike McCarthy can break the streak of winless Thursday night games that Tomlin was cursed with. Tomlin was 0-7 on Thursday nights during his tenure. Tomlin’s teams also lost the last four games played in Cleveland and the last victory by a Steelers team facing the Browns in their stadium came in 2021 when Pittsburgh prevailed 15-10. Over the last 10 games the Steelers have won six and lost four. But with all that said, as they say, “you are only as good as your last performance.” So, based on that, who was the better team in week three? Pittsburgh or Cleveland? It was the Steelers by far. They are in a rhythm now and are operating on all cylinders on both sides of the ball. Talent vs. talent? The Steelers have a clear edge there.