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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin endures the pouring rain on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, in Pittsburgh.
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Steelers report card: Bad coaching and mental gaffes lead to worst loss of the season

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Steelers report card: Bad coaching and mental gaffes lead to worst loss of the season

Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo grades each aspect of the Steelers’ 24-10 loss against the Cardinals:

Quarterback: Kenny Pickett was knocked out of the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury, and he is now expected to miss 2-4 weeks after a surgical procedure on Monday, per sources. He was 7 for 10 for 70 yards, but 49 of those came on the first drive. On the next four drives, he managed just 21 passing yards. He is slow to recognize pressure, and when he did have time to let loose on a deep ball with George Pickens in one-on-one coverage, he didn’t pull the trigger. Mitch Trubisky failed to spark the offense in the second half. His fumble early in the third quarter pretty much cinched the Steelers wouldn’t mount a comeback. It was bad quarterback play all around.

Grade: F

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Running backs: Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren set the tone early with some nice runs, but new play caller Mike Sullivan inexplicably went away from the run when it was working. Nothing the backs can do about that. They did their part. Harris finished with 63 yards, and Warren 59.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett walks off the field due to injury during the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, in Pittsburgh.
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Grade: B-


Receivers: Connor Heyward had a drop and failed to align correctly, a miscue that cost the Steelers their second illegal formation penalty of the game. Diontae Johnson later had an illegal procedure penalty, turning a 3rd-and-8 into a 3rd-and-13. Johnson had some garbage-time yards and a touchdown when the game was out of reach, but it was too little, too late. Pickens was the only bright spot with 86 yards on four catches.

Grade: D

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Offensive line: Mason Cole’s low snaps have been an issue all season, and he had two more that killed his team on Sunday. On the first drive of the second half, his low snap was fumbled by Trubisky. The Cardinals recovered and they scored a touchdown a few plays later. In the first half, a low snap on 3rd-and-2 killed a drive. It didn’t help matters that left guard Isaac Seumalo suffered a shoulder injury and did not return. Nate Herbig replaced him, but the running game stalled after a promising start.

Grade: F


Defensive line: One week after holding the Bengals to 25 rushing yards, the Steelers allowed the Cardinals to run for 150 yards. Cam Heyward and Co. provided little resistance as James Conner looked like an All-Pro running over and through the defense. Once again, the interior pass rush wasn’t good enough, and Kyler Murray broke contain too often. 

Grade: F

Steeler TJ Watt appears injured in the 4th quarter of the game against Arizona at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023.  He came back in to play the rest of the game.
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Linebackers: Outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith combined for two sacks, but the Steelers are getting woefully thin at inside linebacker. Mykal Walker and Mark Robinson were forced to finish the game after Elandon Roberts exited with a groin injury. The Cardinals attacked Walker in coverage, and he had a missed tackle that led to a 19-yard run by Michael Carter on the 99-yard touchdown drive just before halftime. The coaches didn’t have many options because Blake Martinez was a healthy scratch and only three inside linebackers dressed for the game.

Grade: D


Secondary: Joey Porter Jr. had a pass interference penalty in the end zone on third down that gave the Cardinals the ball at the 1-yard line. Not that he had much choice. Greg Dortch would have had an easy touchdown because the front seven didn’t contain Murray in the pocket and allowed him to roll out and make a play. Porter later got beat on a 3rd-and-8, a play that pretty much ended any chances of a Steelers comeback. Murray only passed for 145 yards, but Rondale Moore dropped an easy touchdown that would have easily put him over 200. Moore got behind Trenton Thompson and Damontae Kazee on 3rd-and-14, which is inexcusable.

Grade: F


Special teams: Special teams captain Miles Killebrew had three penalties, including two personal foul penalties that cost the Steelers 30 yards in field position. His second, a facemask penalty, set up the final scoring drive of the game for the Cardinals. But Killebrew was far from alone in a game filled with comical special teams gaffes. What was Godwin Igwebuike thinking when he muffed a kickoff in the end zone and decided to come out with it? Muffing a kickoff in the end zone is always an automatic kneel down. For a minute there, I thought the Steelers re-signed Gunner Olszewski. Chris Boswell missed a 45-yard field goal when the game was still within reach, and Pressley Harvin III’s line-drive punt in the first quarter set up the first points of the game for the Cardinals. Meanwhile, the Cardinals owned the field-position game after their punter, Blake Gillikin, averaged 50.4 yards per punt and pinned the Steelers at the 4-yard line in the fourth quarter. It’s hidden yardage in the game, and the Steelers rarely come out on the good end of it. 

Grade: F


Coaching: Losing to a 2-10 team is bad enough. Looking like a sandlot team in the process is outrageous for a coach in his 17th season. Everything was laid out for the Steelers to have an easy path to the playoffs, but they got manhandled by one of the worst teams in the NFL. Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin’s defense has a big problem defending against big plays, and they don’t appear to have a remedy. The Cardinals offense had four plays of 15 yards or more on their 99-yard touchdown drive. It’s been a seasonlong problem the coaches haven’t been able to fix. How about the defense on 3rd-and-14 in the first quarter when Rondale Moore got behind the secondary and dropped a sure touchdown? Players are certainly at fault, but at some point, Tomlin has to devise a simpler scheme his players are capable of executing. The bloom is off the rose of new play caller Mike Sullivan, too. He has to come up with something better than a run straight up the middle on 4th-and-goal from the 1 that was easily stopped short of the goal line. A third-down receiver screen earlier in the game went for no gain, as well, and had no chance of working. Then, on the first series of the second half, the Steelers had to burn a timeout because they couldn’t get the right personnel on the field. And let’s not forget an illegal formation penalty that was called when Jaylen Warren was sent in motion, leaving Dan Moore Jr. uncovered at left tackle. Either the coaches don’t know what they’re doing or the players aren’t being coached well enough. Either way, it’s a terrible look for a coaching staff this late in the season.

Grade: F

Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1

First Published: December 3, 2023, 11:26 p.m.
Updated: December 4, 2023, 4:08 p.m.

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