Friday Football Footnotes: Steelers not alone among teams with playoff aspirations in need of big Week 2 rebounds

For as bad as the Pittsburgh Steelers were Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, they weren’t close to being the only team with high expectations to flame out in Week 1 of the NFL season.

In fact, there were plenty of perceived playoff contenders who were just as bad — if not worse — than the Steelers were last week. Plus, most of them fell to opponents who aren’t even close to as good as the San Francisco 49ers.

So, for this week’s “Friday Football Footnotes,” we look at the long list of teams with aspirations just as high as (or higher than) the Steelers, who are now looking to make significant rebounds in Week 2.

Three of the AFC’s defending division winners were upended by teams that didn’t make the playoffs a year ago.

Quarterback Josh Allen was a trainwreck for the East champion Buffalo Bills on “Monday Night Football” versus the New York Jets. His Bills managed to drop a 22-16 overtime contest, thanks in large part to his fumble and three interceptions (all courtesy of Pitt product Jordan Whitehead).

HAVE A NIGHT @jwhite_333 ????

???? #BUFvsNYJ on ESPN pic.twitter.com/rADTtdlQsY

— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 12, 2023

The Jets had the rug pulled out from beneath them when new quarterback Aaron Rodgers went out with an Achilles injury during the first series. Yet they still came back to win the game with much-maligned third-year backup Zach Wilson under center.

Also, the team only rushed for 97 yards, and 36 of that was from Allen.

Without defensive lineman Chris Jones and tight end Travis Kelce, the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs looked incredibly human during a 21-20 loss to the upstart Detroit Lions in Thursday night’s season opener.

Some of the coaching decisions from Andy Reid were disastrous, and the wide receivers (particularly Kadarius Toney) looked like they were trying to catch footballs with lobster claws for hands.

As for the current kings of the North, the Cincinnati Bengals, despite having elite talent offensively, were even worse with the ball against the Cleveland Browns than the Steelers were against the Niners.

That could portend poorly for the Steelers since they face Cleveland on Monday but allow some of this to sink in about how bad Cincinnati was.

More sports

• Steelers place Cam Heyward on IR, promote WR Dez Fitzpatrick from practice squad
• Browns star RB 'Mr.' Nick Chubb has earned respect of Mike Tomlin, Steelers
• Diontae Johnson vows to work to rehab injury, support Steelers WR corps

The Browns held Cincy to 2 of 15 on third-down conversion attempts. Cleveland held the ball for almost 36 minutes of game action. Cleveland outgained Cincinnati 350-142 on the way to a 24-3 win.

The Bengals average yards per play was just 2.6 (the Steelers offense was at 3.9 yards per play against San Francisco). Cincinnati totaled only six first downs the entire game. The Browns had 21. The Bengals averaged only 3.8 yards per rush.

Individually, Bengals starting quarterback Joe Burrow managed just 2.6 yards per pass. All-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase put up just 39 yards, and Burrow was 0-8 targeting Tee Higgins.

Another popular AFC playoff pick, the Los Angeles Chargers, allowed 36 points and 536 total yards passing to the Miami Dolphins en route to a 36-34 home loss.

In the NFC, the reigning North champion Minnesota Vikings lost at home to an anemic-looking Tampa Bay Buccaneers outfit, 20-17. Now they are 0-2 after losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 34-28 Thursday night to open Week 2.

The NY Giants, a wild-card team last year, ended up as the worst team of the entire weekend, losing 40-0 at home to the Dallas Cowboys.

Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks, another NFC wild-card squad with similar expectations this year, yielded 30 points at home to a seemingly pedestrian Los Angeles Rams team without Cooper Kupp. The Rams got 119 yards each from one receiver named Puka (Nacua) and another receiver named Tutu (Atwell).

PUKA ARE YOU KIDDING!

1️⃣7️⃣ @AsapPuka | ???? @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/oAg7kvFpaR

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 10, 2023

????️ TURBOOO TUUUTUUUU pic.twitter.com/snFNeOAPsj

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 12, 2023

That’s half of the NFL’s 2022 playoff tree — seven of 14 teams — that lost in either upset fashion or extremely ugly fashion. Many of them fell to underdogs at home.

Is this an attempt by me to help the Steelers, as Mike Tomlin might say, “seek comfort” in the wake of a dreadful home opener?

Maybe. Really, though, it’s just me pointing out that at least the Steelers are not alone in needing a major bounce-back performance in Week 2.

Given how the Steelers flunked their opening test against San Francisco and how the Browns slapped the Bengals, the Steelers shouldn’t feel comfortable about anything.

Listen: Andy Baskin of 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland joins Tim Benz to preview Monday night’s Steelers-Browns game