…ugh. It pains me to even write this article. Mama always said “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all” …sorry ma.

We will be posting in-depth breakdowns from the games over the next couple days, but for now here are some of my quick thoughts following that poor excuse of a football game.

Offense

Let’s start from the trenches, where the Steelers were dominated all day. The Steelers had no answers for the Eagles defensive line. They held our rushing game in check and pressured Ben all day.

This certainly wasn’t Ben’s best game either, but it isn’t all his fault. The Steelers offense places a huge emphasis on balance. When there isn’t a run game, receivers are dropping balls, and Eagles are constantly in the backfield, it’s near impossible to get a rhythm going. Ben was never able to get this offense in sync.

I mentioned dropped passes, and a lot of that falls on Markus Wheaton. The Steelers first offensive drive was stalled when Wheaton dropped a touchdown that hit his chest. After sitting out a lot since training camp, Wheaton clearly has some rust.

I think the Steelers are starting to miss Heath. I say this because Jesse James’ blocking has been an issue this season. The Outlaw has potential, but he still has a long way to go.

Defense

Just like the offense, the trenches were a huge factor in this game. The Steelers run defense has been great this year, but they could not control the Eagles run game.

The pass-rush continues to be a problem. Wentz had a lot of time today and we failed to sack him even once. It’s odd because Butler seems to be blitzing less this year compared to 2015. Hopefully he figures out how to turn things around soon.

One of the defense’s biggest weaknesses this year has been screen passes. We saw it last week versus Cincinnati and again this week. Hopefully the defense addresses this before every team starts exploiting it.

Artie Burns got playing time once again this week and he continues to be a very weak tackler. He is constantly out-muscled by players as well as flat-out missing guys. Reliable tackling has always been a key for Steelers cornerbacks. Burns needs to improve in this field.

The Steelers need Ryan Shazier on the field. LJ Fort is a solid player, but the defense seemed to take a step back when Shazier left the field. They seemed considerably slower and the Eagles exploited that.

Reasons for Optimism

I have very few nice words about this game, but there are a few things that Steelers fans can be optimistic about…

1. Le’Veon Bell returns next week! Hopefully he returns in full form and adds a whole new dynamic to this offense.
2. The Steelers also lost to the Eagles in 2008, but that year they went on to win the Super Bowl!
3. At least the Browns don’t have Carson Wentz. The kid seems like the real deal, so we can at least be happy the Browns were dumb enough to pass on him.
4. The Bengals and Browns both lost today. The Ravens may have won, but that’s more on the Jaguars than their own ability.

Final Thoughts

What a rough game.

What hurts as much as the loss is all of the injuries the Steelers sustained. Lets hope they all prove to be minor.

I also have to give a big shout-out to Jordan Berry. He was arguably our best player today – averaging 55 yards a punt with his longest being 63 yards. We love you Jordan.

I know all of Steeler nation, including myself, is upset over this game, and rightfully so. It was ugly and uncharacteristic. However, the sky isn’t falling in Pittsburgh. Great teams lose games, it happens. Teams like the Packers and Patriots have lost ugly games, only to come back stronger than ever. I expect this from the Steelers.

So buck up Steeler nation, it’ll be okay. I have faith in my team that they will use this game as a learning experience and be ready to play next week. Lets get all our yinzing out tonight so we can pick up our heads tomorrow.