CLEVELAND — There is plenty of blame to go around for the Steelers’ 29-17 loss in Cleveland on Thursday night and on both sides of the ball.
The vaunted defensive front seven got manhandled the entire night by the Browns offensive line. The secondary was torched and looked disorganized and lost on far too many plays. Amari Cooper is a good player, but the Steelers made him look like a Hall of Famer at times.
Mitch Trubisky wasn’t terrible and may have had his best game in a Steelers uniform, but he wasn’t good enough and he didn’t make nearly as many plays as he needs to. Najee Harris ran hard, but he wasn’t the high-impact player who changes the game that a first-round pick is expected to be.
The receiving corps has been called elite by some, but elite receivers don’t drop the big passes Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool and Pat Freiermuth did at key times.
And the coaching staff doesn’t get a pass, either, as they never seemed to adjust to the Browns’ running game and they waited until way too late in the game to get the ball down the middle of the field. I didn’t think the coaching staff had a horrific night, but they certainly didn’t give the team the best chance to win.
All of that being said, you know the one unit that could hold its head high after Thursday’s game?
That much-maligned, often-criticized offensive line.
Remember when the offensive line was the weak link? Remember all of the talk about how it was going to be so bad it wouldn’t give the offense a chance?
I remember because I was guilty of criticizing the offensive line and saying that it wasn’t good enough. I jumped on that bandwagon because during training camp and even in the first week against the Bengals, the offensive line wasn’t good enough.
I will happily be the first to admit I was wrong. This offensive line has gotten better each week. And I thought on Thursday night, the offensive line shined, starting with the performance of Dan Moore Jr. in completely neutralizing Myles Garrett, the incredibly overrated Browns star.
If I wasn’t at the game and saw Garrett with my own eyes, I would not have known he played. As it is, I can’t come up with a single play — small, big, game-changing, etc. — that Garrett made. Moore, who is in his second season, has gotten better seemingly every game and looks like he might have a chance to be the Steelers’ left tackle for the next decade.
Chuks Okorafor was involved in a controversial play when he dived on Browns linebacker Anthony Walker, who was clearly injured, but it is a good thing that is the only time we heard his name called. It means he did a really good job and, like Moore, he has improved weekly.
The interior line has seemingly come together, as well, and there were some really big holes for running backs to run through. I expect the running game to become much more dominant in the next few weeks as this unit continues to develop chemistry.
Harris only had 56 yards on 15 carries, but as a team, the Steelers rushed 22 times for 104 yards. Those numbers are not dominant, but the run game was effective and for the first time this year looked like it was really close to a breakout.
There were at least four runs I could think of where Browns defenders made really good tackles in the open field to prevent big yards. The Steelers running game is close, and that is not something I thought I would be writing this year.
Harris acknowledged the work of the offensive line and said that it is now the job of the skill position players to hold up their end of the deal.
“Really, the O-line played really well,” Harris said. “Really the past couple of weeks, the O-line has been playing really well. But like you say, we are always just trying to find the rhythm and stuff and the groove. We take our hat off to the O-line, but us skill players, we have to do better. We have to come together as a team and rally and find ways to put points on the board.”
I had a lot of thoughts about this Steelers season and how it would go, but no way did I think we would be talking about how the offensive line is way ahead of the skill position players at this stage in the season.
There is a lot of work to be done on offense, no doubt, but the foundation of any offense is the line. And given the fact that the offensive line is improving and becoming a team strength, I don’t think the rest of the offense can be far behind.
Yes, Trubisky has to be better and the receivers have to cut down on drops. And yes, Harris has to make more plays in the run game. But those things eventually happening are a lot more likely if the offensive line continues to improve and continues to provide a solid foundation to build on.
Paul Zeise: pzeise@post-gazette.com or Twitter: @paulzeise
First Published: September 23, 2022, 4:01 p.m.
