The Pittsburgh Steelers turned in arguably their most dominating performance of the season in Week 8, defeating the Cleveland Browns 27-6. But the overall message from a lot of Steelers players afterwards was the missed opportunities the team in the contest.
There wasn’t a greater example of that Sunday than Pittsburgh’s failure to score a touchdown on a first-and-goal situation at the Browns 2-yard line in the first half.
The Steelers posting 78 rushing yards on the drive to move the team into first-and-goal at the 2. But instead of staying on the ground, quarterback Aaron Rodgers attempted passes on the next two plays.
Both of Rodgers’s throws fell incomplete. After the Browns stopped a run on third-and-goal for no gain, the Steelers settled for a field goal.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac suggested the sequence was worst than “disgraceful.”
Following the game, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy expressed regret over the plays the offense ran inside the 5-yard line on the possession.
“That series there, I wish I could have those three plays back,” said McCarthy. “Yeah, so definitely.
“Those are things that you go back and you look at. I wish I had that sequence back.”
Steelers’ Ugly Goal Line Series vs. Browns
It became a moot point in Pittsburgh’s 21-point victory against Cleveland on Sunday. But during the first half, Steelers fans voiced frustrations with the team’s play-calling on their first goal-to-go situation of Sunday.
The Steelers were running all over the Browns defense in the first half. Yet, Rodgers targeted D.K. Metcalf on an end zone fade on first-and-goal from the 2.
It was the type of play the Steelers have called for Metcalf in the end zone during a lot of games this season. Yet, the play-call continues to not work very well.
Then on second-and-goal, Rodgers delivered a pass out of bounds while under heavy pressure.
The first two passing plays led to Dulac leaving a critical comment on social media about the team’s goal-line offense.
“Disgraceful doesn’t even begin to describe that sequence from the Browns 2,” wrote Dulac on X.
The sequence was similar to what happened to the Steelers late in the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6. During a goal-line possession that started at the Buccaneers 3-yard line, the Steelers called two passing plays before settling for a field goal. On third-and-goal at the 1-yard line, Rodgers targeted Metcalf in the end zone.
During Sunday’s game, PennLive.com’s Nick Farabaugh posted on social media the Steelers have run the ball just twice on 12 plays inside the 5-yard line this season.
After that 3-play sequence, the Steelers had now thrown on 10 of their 12 plays inside the 5-yard line this year,” wrote Farabaugh.
Aaron Rodgers Critical of Steelers Offense
Pittsburgh’s quarterback didn’t specifically address throwing twice inside the 5-yard line Sunday. But while the quarterback was complimentary of his running backs and offensive line, Rodgers was still critical of the offense overall.
“Not very complete,” Rodgers said of the performance versus the Browns. “Defense played excellent. Special teams did fine. But offense should have had a lot more points …
“There were a couple of other opportunities. We didn’t execute down there on the goal line.”
The good news is the Steelers still won Sunday. Winning while making mistakes and learning from them is the sign of a good team.
But McCarthy and the Steelers have deployed a pass-happy approach near the goal-line previously this season. It will be interesting to see if that philosophy finally changes after the team’s bye week.
Mike McCarthy Doesn’t Mince Words on Steelers ‘Disgraceful’ Sequence vs. Browns