The Pittsburgh Steelers survived another close matchup despite horrendous clock management from Mike McCarthy and a lackluster offense for 45 minutes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If it wasn’t for Todd Bowles doing what he does best in choking away games, the Steelers would have been sitting at 3-3.
It’s further proof that the decision to hire McCarthy was nothing more than a Mike Tomlin retread with a focus on the offense instead of the defense.
Steelers Survive Slow Offensive Start in Week 6 Win
Saying there are teenagers who have better clock management than Steelers head coaches isn’t an exaggeration by any means. McCarthy made several wrong decisions with his timeouts and play calls that ultimately hurt Pittsburgh in both instances.
At the end of regulation, the Steelers threw the ball twice and stopped the clock as a result of incomplete passes after Jamel Dean’s interception. The drive lasted just 25 seconds before Chris Boswell kicked a field goal, giving Tampa Bay over a minute to get into field goal range themselves.
“Absolutely. You’re talking clock. The first down, it was a boot,” McCarthy said postgame, via Alan Saunders. “Then the second down, the run, we caught them with 10 on the field, so you know, it was a substitution and all of those things, but definitely was aware of the clock there.”
Moments later, McCarthy allowed at least 15 seconds to run off the clock before using a timeout prior to Cade McLaughlin kicking a field goal. That allowed the Buccaneers to get set and take their time when kicking while also getting the special kicking ball out there. Either take the timeout right away or don’t use it at all.
Despite the awful decisions, the Steelers survived and found a way to get it done. In the latter situation, McCarthy admitted it was far from perfect.
“There was some miscommunication there,” McCarthy revealed in his postgame press conference. “Right away there, we were thinking 34 or 35 (seconds), so there was just some miscommunication between the referee and [me]. That’s why it got down as low as it did, but ultimately it worked out.”
It worked out because Aaron Rodgers saved his behind in overtime. To say “it worked out” is terrible logic, and something the head coach should never reveal. If McCarthy was a first-year coach, the miscommunication is understandable. Given how long he’s been in the league, it was a miracle the Steelers survived his stupidity.
McCarthy Wasn’t the Sole Reason for Steelers Slow Start
Bowles did a lot of things right that forced the game to be much closer than Pittsburgh would have liked it to be. Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle were limited to 90 yards on 21 carries, an average of 4.3 yards per carry. That forced Rodgers to throw the ball more frequently, and the Steelers survived despite allowing five sacks.
At the end of the day, the Steelers aren’t as good offensively when the run isn’t available to set up the pass. McCarthy and offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio have to adjust and find a way to be successful in the air without Warren or Dowdle taking extra attention during the game.
For Rodgers, it came down to one thing that resulted in a major change in the 4th quarter.
“We have to go look at the film, but once we got D.K. [Metcalf] involved, the offense just shifted, so we can get that going a little earlier next time,” Rodgers said in his postgame press conference.
After the Steelers survived, the question now becomes why it took so long to get Metcalf involved in the passing game. Rodgers admitted it was a lot of soft coverage from Tampa Bay on Sunday, so that would have been the perfect time to get your $150 million receiver some targets early in the game.
However, the Steelers survived and found a way to make plays when they needed to.
“I thought we held up in some of those crunch-time situations when we had to have it in certain times; we came through with a big play,” Rodgers added. “It was just guys making plays in important situations, and we didn’t do it in the first half.”
The Last Word
The Steelers survived by the skin of their teeth, as they do more often than not. The idea of beating the brakes off of an inferior opponent just isn’t a part of Pittsburgh’s identity anymore, and it hasn’t been for the last 10 years. However, that’s not the only thing that has drastically changed for the Steelers in the last 10 years.
Things need to be a lot better moving forward for McCarthy and the rest of the team. The Steelers survived against the Buccaneers, but they won’t get as lucky moving forward.
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Main Photo Courtesy of Morgan Tencza – Imagn Images