The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their second straight game after earning a thrilling Week 1 win, falling 29-17 to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football.
The AFC North is bound to be a competitive division throughout the season, and a divisional loss is not ideal. The Browns hold the division lead at 2-1, while the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals will be competitive. Baltimore missed the postseason last season with star quarterback Lamar Jackson out for multiple games. With Jackson back, the Ravens are back in the playoff hunt. Although it has been a difficult start for the Bengals, they were in the Super Bowl this past season.
Pittsburgh will need to play exceptionally well to keep up with these teams. The Browns are playing well even without star quarterback Deshaun Watson, who is serving his 11-game suspension following accusations of sexual misconduct. Jacoby Brissett has looked great in his absence, keeping Cleveland a highly competitive team. Pittsburgh needs to improve its production on both sides of the ball to make a playoff push, and what we saw on Thursday was nowhere close to good enough.
With that said, here are two Steelers players most responsible for the loss against the Browns.
2. Najee Harris
While Najee Harris is one of the Steelers' best players, he did not perform all that well against Cleveland. Harris finished the game with 15 carries for only 56 yards and one touchdown. He also caught three passes for five yards and fumbled, which was recovered by the Browns' defense.
Harris needs to carry the offensive load because the Steelers' passing game has not been figured out through the first few games. His fumble did come at the end of the game, but it resulted in Cleveland getting additional points with a touchdown as time expired.
He is one of the most talented backs in the league and will need to play better in future games for the Steelers' offense to have success.
1. Mitch Trubisky
Quarterback Mitch Trubisky has his job in question after a lackluster 1-2 start to the season. Pittsburgh drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round of this year's draft, and many have called for him to take over Trubisky's job.
Against the Browns, the current QB1 threw for 207 yards, completing 20 of his 32 passes. Trubisky did not throw a touchdown in the game and was unable to lead the Steelers on successful drives for the majority of the game after a hot start. The highlight of the night was a throw downfield where rookie wideout George Pickens made an unreal catch. Other than that, it was a mostly atrocious performance from the offense, and it all starts with the quarterback's play.
He did finish with a rushing touchdown on his two carries for seven yards, but it won't be easy for Trubisky to keep his job moving forward even though Mike Tomlin claimed after Thursday's game that he's not ready to make a change. The offense has struggled throughout the first three games, putting up less than 20 points in two of the games.
Week 4 is a great opportunity to bounce back as the Steelers take on the New York Jets. While New York has been one of the worst teams for years, they are 1-1 and have looked competitive in their games. The young team has potential, so Pittsburgh must not underestimate them. There will be many headlines to follow leading up to this game, with the looming question of who will start at quarterback.
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