Lolley: Some good, some bad for Steelers at the bye taken on the South Side (Steelers)

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Dan Moore Jr., 65, and Najee Harris.

The Steelers pull into their bye week at 3-3, which probably is right around where most realistic fans had them at this point, there seems to be a lot of angst about how they got here.

Perhaps that's what they get for beating the Bills in Week 1 and raising expectations.

Losses to the Raiders, Bengals and Packers over the next three weeks -- particularly to the Bengals -- killed that excitement. And even wins over the Broncos and Seahawks over the past two weeks haven't yet recaptured that.

But there are some things to be optmistic about, while there also are some things that remain a concern.

We'll take a look at those issues here.

STOCK UP

Offensive line -- The first three games were, well, ugly. But the line has gotten its act together the past three weeks. Veteran Trai Turner has settled in at right guard, while Kevin Dotson, who was in danger of being benched a few weeks ago, has turned things around, as well. Chuks Okorafor has done good work at right tackle, while rookies Dan Moore and Kendrick Green, at left tackle and center, respectively, haven't been liabilities and are continuing to grow. 

The Steelers will add Zach Banner back to that group coming out of the bye and it remains to be seen if or where he would be inserted in a line that has allowed Ben Roethlisberger to be sacked just twice in the past two games -- one of which was an untouched fumble by the quarterback as he tried to tuck the ball.

The bottom line is that, as expected, this unit is getting better. And everyone on the offense will benefit from that. More tests await, but this group seems more capable of handling those issues than it did a month ago.

Outside linebacker -- Every time it seems T.J. Watt has likely reached his peak, he takes things to another level. He already has seven sacks through six games, putting him on a better pace that he was on a year ago when he led the NFL with 15. And Watt did that despite missing a game with a groin injury.

And after a slow start that can at least be partially attributed to a groin injury of his own that slowed his get off, Alex Highsmith had a sack and a half last week against the Seahawks. He's been solid against the run, as well. His return to health allowed Melvin Ingram to go back to playing a supporting role, which should suit him better. 

After playing as many as 57 snaps in the first five weeks because of injuries to Watt and Highsmith, Ingram played 17 snaps against the Seahawks. That is more what the Steelers had in mind when they signed the 32-year-old. And that included Ingram seeing some snaps as a defensive tackle in the dime packages.

Tight end -- Rookie Pat Freiermuth is settling in as the team's No. 1 tight end, and that happened more quickly than most thought would happen. He's still not a great blocker, but he'll get better in that area. The emergence of Zach Gentry as a capable blocker allows Freiermuth the opportunity to do what he does best -- catch the football.

Freiermuth has a chance to be really good.

Gentry has seen 22 and 23 snaps the past two weeks as a blocker after adding much-needed strength in the offseason while he was recovering from a knee injury suffered last season. That's paying off.

Eric Ebron is the same player who caught 56 passes last season. But he's slowly but surely ceded playing time to Freiermuth, who is the team's future at the position.

Running back -- Some were still questioning the selection of Najee Harris with the team's first-round pick this year. But through six weeks, Harris ranked eighth in the NFL with 388 rushing yards and is tied with Diontae Johnson for the team lead in receptions with 34. He's also scored touchdowns in each of the past three games.

Harris is the real deal. Once things were a little more settled on the offensive line thanks to some adjustments made in what kind of running plays were being called -- more quick-hitting, power runs -- Harris started to produce.

The Steelers averaged 53 yards rushing in their first three games. In their past three, that number has jumped up to 109.3 yards per game over their last three games.

The backup situation remains in flux, but the return of Anthony McFarland from injured reserve after the bye gives the Steelers a boost of speed behind Harris. Benny Snell would be disappointing if the bar weren't set so low, while Kalen Ballage showed some signs of life last week against Seattle, but could get pushed aside if McFarland shows something.

HOLDING STEADY

Cornerback -- Joe Haden and Cam Sutton have been fine, but both have missed a game because of injury. That's forced the Steelers to get creative with how they have employed their defensive backs, with five players seeing 127 or more snaps.

James Pierre has probably played more than the team imagined coming into the season, seeing 212 snaps. Haden (328) and Sutton (327) lead the position.

Despite giving up a couple of long touchdowns -- which can't happen -- Pierre is allowing a completion percentage in his coverage of 57.7 percent, which is above average, especially in today's NFL. Sutton is at 65.5 percent, which is about average, while Haden is giving up a catch rate of 70.8 percent -- though he doesn't draw as many targets as the others because his coverage is usually solid.

The bottom line is that the Steelers rank ninth in DVOA per Football Outsiders against opposing No. 1 wide receivers and eighth against No. 2 wide receivers. 

Covering the team's wideouts beyond their top two weapons has been an issue. The Steelers are 21st in DVOA against those receivers.

But they feel they have a better mix in regard to that with the emergence of Arthur Maulet and rookie Tre Norwood in recent weeks. Those two have handled the slot in nickel and dime packages.

Norwood was playing more early as the Steelers rotated him with Minkah Fitzpatrick between free safety and the slot. In recent weeks, they've settled more on Maulet sharing slot duties with Norwood.

Maulet is allowing a passer rating of 76.6 in his coverage, while Norwood is at 82.7.

Justin Layne is one of the team's best special teams players.

Quarterback -- Yes, quarterback. Roethlisberger has had some highs and some lows this season. But he's been pretty good the past couple of weeks, showing that his play is tied in directly to that of the offensive line.

But he probably hasn't been as bad as the critics say. Roethlisberger is third in the NFL in completions of 40 or more yards with five. And his percentage of "bad" throws according to Pro Football Reference is 17.7 percent. That's better than such luminaries such as Patrick Mahomes (18.4 percent), Tom Brady (18.9 percent) and Aaron Rodgers (21.1 percent).

All of that said, Roethlisberger is turning the ball over too much. While he's only thrown four interceptions and none in the past two games, he's lost a fumble in each of the past three games. Roethlisberger has already fumbled five times overall, matching his total from all of last season. Some of that was because he was getting hit more early in the season after being the least-sacked quarterback in the league in 2020. But he has to do a better job of holding onto the football in the pocket.

Roethlisberger isn't a top-10 quarterback. Those days are in his rearview mirror. But he's shown he can be an effective game manager when protected. 

Safety -- This is a mixed bag, at least for now. Minkah Fitzpatrick's interception-less streak is now up to 12 games. And he's tied with Haden for the team lead with seven missed tackles, three of which came last week against Seattle. But he also leads the team in tackles.

Fitzpatrick also has moved around more this season and was a big reason why the Steelers won in Buffalo to open the season. He also had a blocked field goal against the Packers on which he came through so cleanly -- along with Haden -- that it looked like they were offside (they weren't). Get that and the Steelers might have won that game -- though unlikely not. We'll never know.

He's not played his best football this season to be sure.

On the other hand, Terrell Edmunds has been really good -- though his many critics will never admit it.

Edmunds is allowing 5.3 yards per target this season. Only Norwood, at 5.2 yards per target, has been better. And that number is fourth-best in the league among pure safeties. Edmunds is allowing a passer rating of 84.8 in his coverage, which also is well above average.

Yes, he had a tough game missing tackles against the Seahawks with three. But he's missed just five tackles this season, so that's not been a recurring issue.

STOCK DOWN

Wide receivers -- Whether the Steelers were using JuJu Smith-Schuster a lot or not in the passing game, not having him available for the rest of the season means you have to bang this group as a whole. And where the Steelers will really miss him is as a blocker.

Johnson is an emerging star. He's worked hard to get over his drop issues from a year ago and that hasn't been an issue this season. Though the Steelers have 14 drops overall, none have been credited to Johnson, who led the NFL in that dubious statistic a year ago. 

Johnson also has added the deep ball to his game. He's had an average air depth of target of 10.2 yards this season, well above his career average of 8.7. He's clearly the Steelers' No. 1 receiver.

Chase Claypool still struggles with consistency on the other side. He's catching just 52.4 percent of the passes thrown his way -- well below Johnson's 68 percent catch rate. But Claypool also is more of a deep-ball target as his 16.3 yards per catch average would suggest.

He needs to continue to work on his route tree and become better at winning one-on-one matchups down the field. At this point, he remains a work in progress, but the talent is certainly there.

With Smith-Schuster out, James Washington and Ray-Ray McCloud will see an uptick in playing time, while Cody White has been elevated off the practice squad to replace him.

Inside linebacker -- The Devin Bush-Joe Schobert pairing has promise, but it's been more of a work in progress than the Steelers had hoped.

Schobert was acquired late in the preseason and is still settling into the defense, while Bush hasn't been as explosive as he had been at the start of the 2020 season before suffering a torn ACL.

They've been fine in pass coverage. Bush is allowing just 7.5 yards per reception, while Schobert is giving up a completion percentage of 60.9. But both have been coming off the field in some dime situations in favor of Robert Spillane the past few weeks, largely because Spillane is more stout and better able to get off blocks while also serving as a blitzer.

That's been the biggest issue. With the defensive line compromised, the Steelers are allowing too many blockers to get to the second level untouched.

That is, in fact, a big reason why Spillane is playing more. He does a better job of slipping blocks. Like the offensive issues, it all starts up front on defense, as well.

Marcus Allen and Ulysees Gilbert have both been key contributors on special teams. 

But overall, the group has been a disappointment to this point.

Defensive line -- Without Stephon Tuitt since Day 1 of this season and then losing Tyson Alualu in Week 2, the Steelers just have too many backups playing regular snaps on the defensive line.

Cam Heyward might be having his best season, but there's only one of him. And teams can easily double him or just simply run away from him. 

It can't continue to be Cam Heyward and The Pips. Somebody has to be more than just the supporting band.

Heyward has played 314 snaps this season, while Chris Wormley already has played 273. That's nearly twice the 148 snaps he played all of last season.

If Wormley is getting overexposed -- and he is -- the other guys on the line are showing why they should be playing 10, not 20 snaps per game. Isaiah Buggs is OK as a fill in for a play or two, but he is too easily moved. He's third on the team with 107 snaps played up front. Henry Mondeaux, who began the season on the practice squad, has seen 54 snaps. Rookie Isaiahh Loudermilk has played 61.

Carlos Davis played 17 snaps, all in the opener against the Bills, but has been out since with a knee injury. He should be back after the bye, which is good considering the coaching staff obviously was counting on him to help replace Tuitt.

The line play has, quite frankly, outside of Heyward been disappointing overall. Loudermilk and Mondeaux have had their moments, but they're getting overexposed. They should be playing five snaps per game. And Buggs and Wormley are too easily moved the more they play.

It causes problems for the rest of the defense, allowing offensive linemen to get to the second level unblocked. And with little in the way of pass rush from this group -- at least to the level of what they have when it's Heyward and Tuitt -- it allows for coverage breakdowns.

The Steelers remain hopeful of getting Tuitt back at some point, though the thoughts of him returning soon after the bye week seem to be unrealistic. If it looks like he's going to be out longer, the team might want to explore a trade for another veteran defensive linemen.

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