Larry Ogunjobi said it to me last week: "You can't replace T.J. [Watt]."
And if Sunday was any indication of what this defense might look like while the reigning Defensive Player of the Year recovers from a torn pectoral, the Steelers might dig themselves too deep of a hole before the easier part of their schedule begins.
No, it wasn't all bad on the defensive side of the ball in the Steelers' 17-14 loss to the Patriots. In fact, the defense was the main reason it was only a three-point loss. The Patriots were 9 of 17 on third down, but several of those failed conversions stalled the Patriots' drives into punts or a missed field goal.
What's more, only 10 of the 17 points scored by the Patriots should be charged to the defense. Thanks to a muffed punt by Gunner Olszewski in the third quarter, New England was gifted with first and goal at the Steelers' 10-yard line. It's never fair to put that on the defense.
It was a typical bend-but-don't-break performance: Give the opposing offense the opportunity to hit the short throws, but keep everything in front and allow the defensive front to wreak havoc in the backfield and either sack the quarterback or at least disrupt his rhythm.
And therein lies the problem: They didn't get to the quarterback. Not once.
"I didn't necessarily go into this game thinking it was going to be a seven-sack type game," Mike Tomlin said. "It just wasn't going to unfold that way. Their style of play wasn't going to allow that to happen."
The Steelers did not sack Mac Jones the entire game. In addition, Malik Reed, Alex Highsmith and Tyson Alualu combined for three quarterback hits. It's not like there weren't opportunities. Jones averaged 2.75 seconds from snap to throw, which ranked 16th out of 27 quarterbacks with at least 15 attempts in Week 2.
There was always going to be a decline in production when Watt on the field. That goes without saying. But, to go from seven sacks last week to zero isn't a decline -- it's falling off a cliff.
Let's be honest. We all know the answer to why this happened. Simply put, Watt is irreplaceable. But, the question has to be asked anyway. Why were the Steelers unable to get to Jones today?
"We didn't stop the run enough," Cam Heyward explained. "We didn't put them in enough situations where they had to throw the ball. ... It came down to if we were ever going to get to the passer, get after their O-line, we had to stop the run first."
He is right in one aspect. The overall numbers against the run were not great. New England racked up 124 yards on the ground and averaged 4.0 yards per carry. However, most of that damage was done in the second half.
Of the 31 total carries in the game, the Patriots only ran the ball nine times in the first half -- three of those were impromptu runs by Jones. The Patriots' quarterback threw the ball 17 times in the first half. The opportunities were there. The defense just didn't get it done.
Even Highsmith, who was coming off a three-sack game in Cincinnati, was shut out.
"I know I've got to play better," Highsmith said. "I'm far from what I wanted to do today."
The Steelers tried different things to counter Watt's absence. There were times when Highsmith switched over to Watt's spot at left outside linebacker in the 2-4-5 nickel, but Heyward was lined up in a two-point stance on the end where Highsmith is normally set as the right outside linebacker -- almost like a 3-3-5. Also, DeMarvin Leal lined up several times as if he were Watt in the 2-4-5 nickel.
Still, no matter what the Steelers would do or scheme, it couldn't make up for the absence of a superstar player. Then, as Heyward explained, New England ran the ball much more often down the stretch and were able to find success, especially in the stretch and toss plays -- another area that attacked the Watt-less Steelers.
"They tend to go for those long edges, C and D gaps, and we have to set the edge," Heyward explained. "When it gets out there, everyone just has to be accounted for their gaps, and at the end, they went to the open side and pulling guys. If you don't have enough guys in the box, and get guys overtop, it's going to work."
The Patriots racked up 84 yards on 22 carries in the second half. Nine of those carries came in the first 10 plays of what would be the last drive of the game. New England got the ball back after a three and out by the Steelers with 6:33 to go in the fourth quarter. Then, all except for an 11-yard completion on second and 13, the Patriots ran the clock all the way down, never giving the ball back to Pittsburgh.
As deflating as that is, the bigger issue here is creating pressure on the quarterback without Watt. This is the hand they've been dealt. And now, the Steelers have a short week and will travel to Cleveland for Thursday night football. Then, after they host the Jets in Week 4, the Steelers travel to Buffalo, host Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, then have back-to-back road games against the Dolphins and Eagles, respectively, before their bye week.
Watt is on injured reserve, so he has to miss the next three games. If the Steelers are lucky, Watt will be back by the time they travel to Philadelphia in Week 8. They need to figure this out. Fast.
"It's on us," Highsmith said. "We've just got to be better. I've got to be better. We know that going into the next game. We've just got to be better."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Olszewski's muffed punt proved to be perhaps the most pivotal play in the game, setting up the Patriots in the Steelers' red zone for the deciding score. I've got much more on that in a separate piece.
• As I mentioned previously, the offense was not good Sunday. So much east-to-west and not nearly enough down field. Dejan Kovacevic has much, much more on Mitch Trubisky and his level of play through the first two weeks of the season.
• The Patriots connected on a lot of passes under 10 yards over the middle. Of his 35 total passes, Jones completed 10 of 12 for 86 yards in that area of the field. I chatted with Terrell Edmunds about that kind of void, and he credited the Patriots ability to win man coverages and find holes in zone coverage.
"We've gotta be good on our landmarks and drops," Edmunds told me. "Now it's back to the drawing board to find our identity with our zone drops, everybody breaking on the throw and rallying around to make the tackle."
• One play that really hurt the Steelers was a huge 44-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Nelson Agholor. In a 3-3 game, New England was driving down the field in their two-minute offense, but the Steelers forced a third and 3 at their own 44-yard line with less than a minute left in the half.
The Patriots went no huddle after completing their second-down pass in bounds, and Jones found Agholor in one-on-one coverage with Ahkello Witherspoon down the right sideline. Witherspoon didn't have bad coverage, but he made a poor attempt at the ball and fell to the ground as Agholor made a great catch over the top and walked in for the score.
Splash plays came at a premium in this game, but the ones that took place came in crucial moments and really hurt the Steelers on the scoreboard.
"Really one of those really tight ball games that's going to come down to a few things, and we knew that going in," Tomlin said. "Sometimes when you're in games like this, that's the difference."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics
THE INJURIES
No injuries were announced in game. However, Tomlin said Devin Bush is being evaluated for a foot injury that kept him from returning to the game. He seemed to be in good spirits in the locker room, but his availability will definitely be something we keep a close eye on with a short week coming up.
The players who were healthy but inactive: QB Mason Rudolph, LG Kendrick Green, WR Steven Sims, DE Isaiahh Loudermilk, LB Mark Robinson, LB David Anenih
THE SCHEDULE
It's a short week for the Steelers as they head to Cleveland for Thursday night football, 8:15 p.m. kickoff. Tomlin will address the media Monday.
THE CONTENT
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