Aaron Rodgers remains, in spite ofhis self-described'bad' showing in the Steelers' lousy 25-10 loss to the Chargers tonight here at SoFi Stadium, a completely capable No. 1 NFL quarterback.
DK Metcalf remains, in spite of his own massive mess amid three catches on seven targets, a completely capable No. 1 wide receiver.
The tight end trio of Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith and Darnell Washington remains, in spite of modest production both here and beforehand, as capable as any such room in the league.
But none of them, not individually and not collectively, are about to form the identity, the foundation this offense needs -- and I do mean needs, now more than ever -- moving forward.
Because that should be this guy, who ran only 14 times but still amassed 70 yards, a 5.0 average even without a run as long as 15:
Jaylen Warren won't say it. He's not that type.
So I'll say it: This offense needs to run through him. Because he's the most consistently dynamic, dangerous weapon they've got, and I dare say there isn't a close second.
Not to suggest he's the next coming of Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders or, for that matter, Jonathan Taylor. He isn't. But Warren does present these Steelers at this time with their most plausible option for the one thing that a bunch of players were telling me after this that the team -- not just the offense -- needs the most.
"Consistency," Alex Highsmith would tell me.
"Consistency," came Troy Fautanu.
"Consistency," came Brandin Echols, and there were many more.
Well, consistency doesn't create itself. It forms off that aforementioned foundation. It's real. It's reliable. It gets results so often that it helps foment a belief that stretches beyond that one person. It could bolster the confidence of the still-weakest area, the offensive line, which run-blocks only about a billion times better than it protects a passing pocket. It could account for more effective play-action, long a Rodgers preference. It could afford more space for a group of wide receivers that haven't exactly excelled at getting open. It could buy more time for Rodgers to try Metcalf on deep routes that aren't prayers.
Oh, and it could, never to be forgotten in these scenarios, eat up enough clock that the defense wouldn't be spending 65, 70, 75 snaps a game on the field.
Possession time in this one: Chargers 37:35, Steelers 22:25 ... more than a full additional quarter!
This isn't new. The offense has covered a few figurative warts with help from the defense's takeaways, averaging 23.6 points per game to rank 16th in the NFL and appear at least to be middle-of-the-pack ... but the underlying ugliness all along has been that they've been bad at moving the ball, averaging 280.7 yards per game to rank 28th, with only the Raiders, Browns and Titans behind them. My goodness, even the Jets now rank a notch higher.
Warren's the one hope to change that. And again, it's not that he can achieve that without help but, rather, that he's best-suited, in this circumstance, to get everyone else going.
Why hasn't it happened yet?
It's impossible to say with certainty, but I know for a fact that Arthur Smith loves him and, going as far back as early summer, had licked his lips over the chance to feature him. I can't come close to accepting this particular coordinator wouldn't be pushing Warren
I also know for a fact that Rodgers feels Warren should be getting more touches, if only because Rodgers would state at the podium here, "Jaylen made some pretty nice plays. He's a talented guy. We've gotta get him more touches."
So who's left?
The head coach who's forever cast doubt on Warren as a feature back?
Suffice it to say, on this night alone, that when Mike Tomlin was asked if the Steelers might plan to run the ball more in future games, he'd reply in a rueful tone, “Guys, when you’re 0-for-nine-or-10 on third down, you're not going to have enough snaps. We've been over that discussion a lot. Next.”
There'd be no next question. End of press conference.
Maybe between now and the actual next question, he can conduct his own internal discussion asking to what extent the Steelers' perpetual third-down issues -- 2 for 11 here, 36.0% for the season -- might originate in a clear reluctance to operate from the team's singular offensive strength.
You know, consider the cause and not just the symptom.
I spoke briefly with Warren after this game, as I do after most, and this wasn't any different than any other. He's as quiet as a professional athlete can be. He's not a bragger or boaster. He's not a complainer or crybaby. He's actually at the polar opposite extreme from any of those labels.
And when I asked, somewhat in jest, if he could've held up another, oh, 50 or so additional carries, he simply smiled and replied, "I'm not trippin'."
He isn't, but his team's doing so all the time. Same stupid rope, too.
• Speaking of Tomlin's press conference, sorry, but this just isn't professional conduct:
There's nothing amiss with a reporter asking the head coach to assess his quarterback's performance. I'd go so far as to guess that the question's posed in a large percentage of all press conferences after football games, whether in the NFL, the NCAA, the WPIAL or the City League.
To respond with that condescending tilt of the head, the awkwardly long pause ... come on.
• No sense being tough on the defense. Facing one of the NFL's most productive quarterbacks in Justin Herbert, they kept this one to a baseball score for a half-plus and only wore down when their own offense just couldn't muster anything. And that, to repeat from above, becomes a problem unto itself when the offense can't/won't run.
• That said, Brandin Echols was exposed all over the place. Scary stuff considering Darius Slay's concussion-related exit from this game.
I tried to speak with Echols, generally one of the chattier types in the environment. He could barely squeeze out multiple syllables. Tough to see.
• Far worse: Calvin Austin, after catching two of his seven targets and turning one of those into a gift of an interception, was outright inconsolable. Never seen it before from him. Hoping never to see it again. He was really wearing this.
• Question I had for Cam Heyward:
• T.J. Watt registered two tackles, a pass defensed and a late sack against an opponent missing both starting offensive tackles. His assessment of the Steelers: "Too much inconsistency. Not enough Steelers football. We can't continue to live and die by the turnovers as a defense. We need to get off the field."
Not that he wouldn't realize this, but he's a much bigger part of Steelers football himself than what he showed here and what he's shown at other stages of this season.
• Not sure this replay reversal was some seminal moment, but I still hated it:
It doesn't matter that the ball makes contact with the turf. It matters only that the ball doesn't budge upon hitting the turf along with a leaping Smith. Nothing else.
But even that's not why I hate it: I hate it because the ruling on the field plainly gets ignored by the replay officials. I'd say that's obvious because the replay officials' ONLY role in this is to determine if there's conclusive evidence for the overturn. It's NOT to view it as if they're starting from scratch. And there's nowhere near anything up there worthy of an overturn.
Think of it like our judicial system: Innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof is squarely on the prosecution to show "beyond a reasonable doubt" that an individual's guilty.
Also and relevant: I asked Smith. He swore he never allowed the ball to budge.
• All sports are terrible at remembering the burden of proof, by the way. Not just a football thing.
• Apropos of nothing, but worth sharing, I thought: When Ke'Shawn Williams muffed a punt late in the game to hand the Chargers possession deep into Pittsburgh territory, it was Nick Herbig who trotted out onto the field directly toward Williams to say a few words.
I couldn't help but ask Herbig what those might've been.
"Hey, man, we've all been there," he'd recall. "We need you. We've got you."
Exemplary teammate. Can't bury someone over a single mishap.
• The Steelers are 5-4, and the Ravens are now 4-5. They'll meet in two of each team's final five games. And all else that we'll have witnessed in the interim will have been a waste of time.
Just like pretty much every other year over the past three decades. Incredible.
• Next up: Bengals. Maybe without Slay.
Lots of work ahead. But this upbeat thought was shared with me from Highsmith, who was terrific again, and I kinda liked it: "We'll get there."
THE ASYLUM
DK: Want to stop stumbling? Start riding Warren
Aaron Rodgers remains, in spite of his self-described 'bad' showing in the Steelers' lousy 25-10 loss to the Chargers tonight here at SoFi Stadium, a completely capable No. 1 NFL quarterback.
DK Metcalf remains, in spite of his own massive mess amid three catches on seven targets, a completely capable No. 1 wide receiver.
The tight end trio of Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith and Darnell Washington remains, in spite of modest production both here and beforehand, as capable as any such room in the league.
But none of them, not individually and not collectively, are about to form the identity, the foundation this offense needs -- and I do mean needs, now more than ever -- moving forward.
Because that should be this guy, who ran only 14 times but still amassed 70 yards, a 5.0 average even without a run as long as 15:
Jaylen Warren won't say it. He's not that type.
So I'll say it: This offense needs to run through him. Because he's the most consistently dynamic, dangerous weapon they've got, and I dare say there isn't a close second.
Not to suggest he's the next coming of Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders or, for that matter, Jonathan Taylor. He isn't. But Warren does present these Steelers at this time with their most plausible option for the one thing that a bunch of players were telling me after this that the team -- not just the offense -- needs the most.
"Consistency," Alex Highsmith would tell me.
"Consistency," came Troy Fautanu.
"Consistency," came Brandin Echols, and there were many more.
Well, consistency doesn't create itself. It forms off that aforementioned foundation. It's real. It's reliable. It gets results so often that it helps foment a belief that stretches beyond that one person. It could bolster the confidence of the still-weakest area, the offensive line, which run-blocks only about a billion times better than it protects a passing pocket. It could account for more effective play-action, long a Rodgers preference. It could afford more space for a group of wide receivers that haven't exactly excelled at getting open. It could buy more time for Rodgers to try Metcalf on deep routes that aren't prayers.
Oh, and it could, never to be forgotten in these scenarios, eat up enough clock that the defense wouldn't be spending 65, 70, 75 snaps a game on the field.
Possession time in this one: Chargers 37:35, Steelers 22:25 ... more than a full additional quarter!
This isn't new. The offense has covered a few figurative warts with help from the defense's takeaways, averaging 23.6 points per game to rank 16th in the NFL and appear at least to be middle-of-the-pack ... but the underlying ugliness all along has been that they've been bad at moving the ball, averaging 280.7 yards per game to rank 28th, with only the Raiders, Browns and Titans behind them. My goodness, even the Jets now rank a notch higher.
Warren's the one hope to change that. And again, it's not that he can achieve that without help but, rather, that he's best-suited, in this circumstance, to get everyone else going.
Why hasn't it happened yet?
It's impossible to say with certainty, but I know for a fact that Arthur Smith loves him and, going as far back as early summer, had licked his lips over the chance to feature him. I can't come close to accepting this particular coordinator wouldn't be pushing Warren
I also know for a fact that Rodgers feels Warren should be getting more touches, if only because Rodgers would state at the podium here, "Jaylen made some pretty nice plays. He's a talented guy. We've gotta get him more touches."
So who's left?
The head coach who's forever cast doubt on Warren as a feature back?
Suffice it to say, on this night alone, that when Mike Tomlin was asked if the Steelers might plan to run the ball more in future games, he'd reply in a rueful tone, “Guys, when you’re 0-for-nine-or-10 on third down, you're not going to have enough snaps. We've been over that discussion a lot. Next.”
There'd be no next question. End of press conference.
Maybe between now and the actual next question, he can conduct his own internal discussion asking to what extent the Steelers' perpetual third-down issues -- 2 for 11 here, 36.0% for the season -- might originate in a clear reluctance to operate from the team's singular offensive strength.
You know, consider the cause and not just the symptom.
I spoke briefly with Warren after this game, as I do after most, and this wasn't any different than any other. He's as quiet as a professional athlete can be. He's not a bragger or boaster. He's not a complainer or crybaby. He's actually at the polar opposite extreme from any of those labels.
And when I asked, somewhat in jest, if he could've held up another, oh, 50 or so additional carries, he simply smiled and replied, "I'm not trippin'."
He isn't, but his team's doing so all the time. Same stupid rope, too.
• Speaking of Tomlin's press conference, sorry, but this just isn't professional conduct:
There's nothing amiss with a reporter asking the head coach to assess his quarterback's performance. I'd go so far as to guess that the question's posed in a large percentage of all press conferences after football games, whether in the NFL, the NCAA, the WPIAL or the City League.
To respond with that condescending tilt of the head, the awkwardly long pause ... come on.
• No sense being tough on the defense. Facing one of the NFL's most productive quarterbacks in Justin Herbert, they kept this one to a baseball score for a half-plus and only wore down when their own offense just couldn't muster anything. And that, to repeat from above, becomes a problem unto itself when the offense can't/won't run.
• That said, Brandin Echols was exposed all over the place. Scary stuff considering Darius Slay's concussion-related exit from this game.
I tried to speak with Echols, generally one of the chattier types in the environment. He could barely squeeze out multiple syllables. Tough to see.
• Far worse: Calvin Austin, after catching two of his seven targets and turning one of those into a gift of an interception, was outright inconsolable. Never seen it before from him. Hoping never to see it again. He was really wearing this.
• Question I had for Cam Heyward:
• T.J. Watt registered two tackles, a pass defensed and a late sack against an opponent missing both starting offensive tackles. His assessment of the Steelers: "Too much inconsistency. Not enough Steelers football. We can't continue to live and die by the turnovers as a defense. We need to get off the field."
Not that he wouldn't realize this, but he's a much bigger part of Steelers football himself than what he showed here and what he's shown at other stages of this season.
• Not sure this replay reversal was some seminal moment, but I still hated it:
It doesn't matter that the ball makes contact with the turf. It matters only that the ball doesn't budge upon hitting the turf along with a leaping Smith. Nothing else.
But even that's not why I hate it: I hate it because the ruling on the field plainly gets ignored by the replay officials. I'd say that's obvious because the replay officials' ONLY role in this is to determine if there's conclusive evidence for the overturn. It's NOT to view it as if they're starting from scratch. And there's nowhere near anything up there worthy of an overturn.
Think of it like our judicial system: Innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof is squarely on the prosecution to show "beyond a reasonable doubt" that an individual's guilty.
Also and relevant: I asked Smith. He swore he never allowed the ball to budge.
• All sports are terrible at remembering the burden of proof, by the way. Not just a football thing.
• Apropos of nothing, but worth sharing, I thought: When Ke'Shawn Williams muffed a punt late in the game to hand the Chargers possession deep into Pittsburgh territory, it was Nick Herbig who trotted out onto the field directly toward Williams to say a few words.
I couldn't help but ask Herbig what those might've been.
"Hey, man, we've all been there," he'd recall. "We need you. We've got you."
Exemplary teammate. Can't bury someone over a single mishap.
• The Steelers are 5-4, and the Ravens are now 4-5. They'll meet in two of each team's final five games. And all else that we'll have witnessed in the interim will have been a waste of time.
Just like pretty much every other year over the past three decades. Incredible.
• Next up: Bengals. Maybe without Slay.
Lots of work ahead. But this upbeat thought was shared with me from Highsmith, who was terrific again, and I kinda liked it: "We'll get there."
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