The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered their first loss of the Mike McCarthy era Sunday. The offense was the main culprit in the defeat, as the unit turned in a dismal performance versus the New England Patriots. The Steelers tallied 235 yards and only a field goal in the loss.
While speaking to reporters after the 20-3 loss, McCarthy blamed one person repeatedly — himself.
“Clearly not good enough. That starts with me,” McCarthy told reporters. “I felt it in practice, frankly. Coming off last week, as I stated, I felt like we were a little herky, jerky, trying to get in and out of the run and pass. The extra time you put forth, which you’re expecting in a game and you don’t deliver, it tells you you need to spend more time on it.
“What I’m referring to is, we put a lot of time and energy into the protection component of how we felt today’s game was going to go.”
The Steelers offensive line fell far short of expectations Sunday versus New England. The Patriots registered four sacks and seven quarterback hits versus quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who fumbled twice. One of those fumbles resulted in a Patriots defensive touchdown.
“The reality of it is, the detail is not there, and that’s on coaching. It starts with me. I’m calling the offense. I have to get the detail better; I felt it on Wednesday and Thursday, I’m a veteran coach. I know better; I didn’t do a good job.
“Offense needs to be better. Mike McCarthy needs to be better.”
Mike McCarthy Takes Blame for Steelers Offensive Woes
The Steelers offense largely didn’t get the results they wanted during the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. But there were tea leaves of positive signs.
The passing offense for Pittsburgh was rather aggressive in Week 1. Rodgers’s air yards per attempt average was higher versus the Falcons than in any game last season.
But the Steelers couldn’t even attempt much down the field Sunday with how the offense was performing. The biggest problem was the offensive line’s inability to protect or create lanes in the run game.
McCarthy declined to commit to personnel changes along the line or otherwise on offense, but he did suggest repeated mistakes wouldn’t be tolerated. The head coach again blamed himself, though, for potentially overloading the offense with too much in the game plan.
“If it’s not clean, you cut the volume down. And we’re not clean on offense. So the volume is getting cut down. That’s the first starting point, and that’s my fault. Because I felt it early in the week.
“We’ve got a quarterback that can play with any volume of game plan. But at the end of the game, it’s a team game, and we have to give Aaron better platforms to throw off of.”
McCarthy Stresses He Doesn’t Want to ‘Dink and Dunk’
Steelers fans will obviously not be pleased with Sunday’s result in New England. But they might react positively to their first-year head coach accepting a lot of blame for the loss.
McCarthy made another comment that Steelers Nation will probably like even more.
“I don’t want to dink and dunk and play keep-away football,” McCarthy said. “There’s a place for us, maybe situationally, but that’s not the philosophy. We have to attempt to get the ball thrown down field.
“If you look closely at it, we did. I thought, Aaron a few times, got the ball down to the backs on the underneath throws. But detail is not there on offense.”
This comment, though, might actually be a double-edged sword. While it’s a breath of fresh air the Steelers offense is trying to be more aggressive than it was under Mike Tomlin, the question is can the offense be effective with that strategy?
Tomlin designed a passive offensive mindset late in his tenure likely because it helped the Steelers win more games. The team’s defense and special teams was good enough to keep the team competitive.
It will be interesting to see if the Steelers can have a more effective offense while being aggressive with its downfield passing. They certainly didn’t achieve that versus the Patriots.
Mike McCarthy Doesn’t Hold Back on Steelers Coaching After Patriots Loss