Seahawks 31 – Steelers 17 (F)

Post-Game Buzz | The Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) suffered a humiliating 31-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks (1-1) in Sunday’s home opener. Against a middle of the road team coming from the West Coast, the Steelers had an inexcusable performance in all three phases. “Certainly, a disappointing home opener,” Mike Tomlin said. “There’s a lot of things that we can do better in all phases and in coaching and we will.” This is going to be a tough week where as bad as the Steelers played, they led 14-7 at the half and were on the verge of going up 21-14 in the third.

  • Seahawks outscore Steelers 24-3 in the Second Half
  • SEA RB Kenneth Walker – 13 CAR – 105 Yards
  • 395 Total Yards | 267 Total Yards

The Special Teams Blunder of All Blunders

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Week 2: What We Learned

Defensive Scheme Gets Exploited Again: Surrendering 30+ points for the second straight game to open the season, the Steelers are on a near 10 game run here dating back to last year where they’re giving around 28 points per game. Everything just continues to point to a scheme problem here with no answers in the room. Last week was a putrid performance to maybe chalk up to just the Steelers can’t defend a read option QB. This week it was more of the same, albeit against a traditional offense where it felt like the Steelers were getting out schemed at every turn and it was a performance by the Sam Darnold led Seahawks O where they never had to veer awa from their game plan and felt like they did more damage than putting up 24 offensive points. Steelers Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin has always seemed like an odd fit for this group and that narrative has continued into 2025………

MORE BUZZ

  • Front Seven Just can’t stop the run. Defending the pass exposed some scheme issues, stopping the run more personnel? Keeanu Benton is not the run stuffer Steelers coaches think he is……. Cam Heyward looks old against the run. This group better hope Derek Harmon becomes the real deal immediately upon his return.
  • Is Patrick Queen/Payton Wilson the right combo against the run? That’s something coaches have to mull. Both had some moments but poor reads, getting blown back and overpursuing continues to plaque this duo.
  • T.J. Watt Zero Sacks in his Last Six Games, Pass-Rush Win Rate below 5% against the Seahawks
  • Jalen Ramsey has had some big moments through two weeks, game ending hit in Week 1, INT today, but the secondary as a whole has been a step behind in man-to-man coverage through two weeks against two bottom-15 quarterbacks. Ramsey got beat for a score early and a deep ball late in the 4th that iced the game. Meanwhile, Darius Slay has looked ancient in coverage.
  • Another sidebar to the loss: How bad the Jets offense looked against the Bills when evaluating the Steelers defense through two games and to the issues from last season.

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– Offense shows late 2024 Issues: Everything about the Steelers on offense vs the Seahawks was reminiscent to what went wrong late in the 2024. No intermediate to deep passing game, spotty offensive line play and a receiving group that can’t get open. Aaron Rodgers, though, would be the least of my concerns moving forward. In a pedestrian performance (18/33 for 203 yards with 1 touchdown, 2 INT’s), even today you can see some moments where Rodgers can elevate this group. Much more pressing issues……..

  • What we continue to see during the Arthur Smith era is an offensive coordinator who often fails to elevate the group during these slow moving 50-50 games. Today was another one where the Steelers had no rhythm and creativity and an OC who never adjusted in trying to get a DK Metcalf or others into open space like the Steelers did so well against the Jets.
  • Think the lack of another game breaker at the receiver position isn’t going to be an issue? DK Metcalf (3rec-20yards-1td), Calvin Austin III (1rec-22yards), Roman Wilson (1rec-7yards). That’s it. That was the production today from the receiver group and the Austin and Wilson receptions were in mop up time. Metcalf had an extremely disappointing low impact game while Jaxon Smith-Njigba looked like the $150 million wideout on the field.

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QB Aaron Rodgers | 18/33, 203 Yds 1TD, 2INT, 58.0 RTGQB Sam Darnold | 22/33, 295 Yds, 2 TD, 2 INT, 89.9 RTG
RB Jaylen Warren | 14 Car- 48 Yds, 4 Rec – 86 YdsRB Kenneth Walker | 13 Car – 105 Yds – 1 TD
WR DK Metcalf | 3 Rec – 20 Yds – 1 TDWR Jaxon Smith Njigba | | 8 Rec – 103 Yds

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