Steelers vs. Chargers Week 11 film study: Positives outweigh negatives after loss in L.A.
NFL football analyst Matt Williamson will break down each of the Steelers games this season in the Trib’s Steelers Film Study. Here’s what he saw in the Steelers’ Week 11 loss to the Chargers.
On Sunday night in Los Angeles, in front of a crowd that greatly favored the Steelers, Pittsburgh was mostly dominated by the Chargers, for most of the game. The Steelers now sit at 5-4-1, and their five-game unbeaten streak has been snapped.
Statistical analysis
When it was all said and done in this crazy game, here are the key stats that you need to know.
• These teams snapped the ball almost the same number of times, 65 for Pittsburgh and 69 for the Chargers, but Los Angeles averaged 7.7 yards per play against just 4.6 for the Steelers.
• Quarterback Justin Herbert’s Chargers produced 233 more yards from scrimmage. Los Angeles passed for 374 yards and the Steelers only rushed for 55 yards.
• Los Angeles had the only turnover of this game, but also had a punt blocked — and still held on to win.
• The Chargers were penalized four more times for 37 more yards than Pittsburgh, but still possessed the football for 31:46 of a possible 60 minutes of play.
Stars in Hollywood
Herbert, running back Austin Ekeler and receiver Keenan Allen were the stars of the game for the winning team, and how about these numbers: Herbert threw for 382 yards and rushed for another 90 to lead the team. Ekeler produced 115 total yards and found the end zone four times. As for Allen, he wasn’t quite as spectacular, but he caught nine passes for 113 yards.
Receiver Diontae Johnson was the big producer for Pittsburgh. He finished with seven catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. QB Ben Roethlisberger needs mentioned, as he attempted 44 passes, completed 28 of those for 273 yards and three passing touchdowns.
Missing parts
Sorry folks, but the write up for this game might be shorter and less in depth than previous weeks. It was just so obvious as to what Pittsburgh’s problem was in this game. With all respect to the Chargers offense, which played a fantastic game and has outstanding overall talent, Pittsburgh’s defense was just not NFL level on Sunday night.
This was a defense without defenders T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Joe Haden and already in desperate need for Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu.
In all honesty, that left defensive lineman Cameron Heyward as the only member of this defense that could firmly be classified as an above average NFL starter in Los Angeles. And in what has become the usual, Heyward was doubled teamed on almost every snap, but still made a big impact on this game.
The Chargers moved the ball with ease drive after drive and in any fashion in which they pleased, and Pittsburgh was fortunate to hold them to a field goal as time expired in the first half or this game might have even gotten more out of hand.
Herbert’s star shines
The Steelers had no answer for Herbert as a runner and simply didn’t do a good enough job of keeping him in the pocket and somewhat contained. Herbert’s runs were not designed plays, but rather the young quarterback taking advantage of breakdowns and opportunities the Steelers defense gave him. He ran through some wide-open lanes.
Of course, the lack of quality defenders available had a lot to do with that. Even though he didn’t push the ball down the field and finished the day with a low average depth of target, Herbert was equally brilliant throwing the football. As has been the case with Herbert all year, there weren’t many deep passing attempts, but the ones that occurred were highly successful.
He finished this game 7 of 11 on passes over 10 yards downfield. There was a point late in the first half when Herbert was 15 of 16 attempts with that lone incompletion an obvious dropped pass. A great deal of Los Angeles’ passing production came after the catch which is a testament to Herbert’s outstanding ball placement and timing, as well as Pittsburgh’s defense just being overmatched athletically and from a talent perspective. The second-year quarterback’s decision making was also spot on.
Other Chargers find success
Ekeler’s four touchdowns are eye-popping without question. Los Angeles’ explosive running back provided more problems as a receiver than runner and routinely had his way with Pittsburgh’s linebackers. Ekeler also had a key blitz pickup on Herbert’s game-winning touchdown throw.
Allen was a rock of stability in the intermediate levels of the field and Mike Williams exploited the Steelers secondary mistakes. Allen and Williams also got the better of defensive backs Cameron Sutton and James Pierre regularly on Sunday night. The Chargers got uneven performances from their group of tight ends and probably targeted this group more than they needed to.
Bush’s struggles continue
Steelers inside linebacker Devin Bush again stood out in a negative manner. His run fits are poor, as is his recognition and tackling. He is getting demolished when taking on offensive linemen. Bush is becoming a liability in coverage, especially against high end receiving backs like Ekeler, but also with just his overall route recognition.
There is a reason the Steelers continue to put Robert Spillane in the game in passing situations. Maybe Bush is still recovering from his knee injury, but nonetheless, this is one of the most disappointing developments of the entire Steelers season, and Bush seems to be getting worse, not better, on a week-to-week basis.
Division of labor
So how about this for testing the Steelers defensive depth: 19 players played multiple snaps on defense. Pittsburgh had Daniel Archibong and Delontae Scott (who?) on the field for a combined 15 snaps. The Steelers defense was on the field for 76 snaps, which is too many.
But here are the snap counts for defenders that should be spot players who were asked to do much more…and we saw how that went: Taco Charlton played 49 snaps and Derrek Tuszka played 32. Isaiah Buggs was on the field for 28 and Henry Mondeaux for 27. Ahkello Witherspoon saw action for 20 reps and Karl Joseph played 15 snaps.
It is telling when missing young guys like Isaiahh Loudermilk and Carl Davis are difficult to overcome? These snap count numbers might be all you need to know about this game as whole. Sometimes it really is as simple as not having good enough players; that was very much the case for Pittsburgh’s defense against a talented offense whose stars brought their “A” games.
Highsmith on the rise
Let’s break down Alex Highsmith a bit. The Steelers quickly moved Highsmith from right side of the defensive formation against Rashawn Slater, one of the NFL’s best left tackles already as a rookie, to the left side — Watt’s normal spot — against a weak right side of Los Angeles’ offensive line.
Highsmith finished with a sack and a half and, in doing so, showed he beats up on poor offensive tackles but is currently overmatched by high-end blockers. But any way you cut it, his spin move against Storm Norton was awfully sweet and Highsmith put a quality performance on the field overall in this game. His ability to set the edge in the run game has been excellent over the past few games, as well.
Overall, the Steelers pass-rush was effective, especially considering how quickly the ball came out of Herbert’s hands. Pittsburgh didn’t have its usual group of pass-rushers, so blitzing — something they have done much less of this year — seemed like a logical tactic. However, without Fitzpatrick erasing problems from his deep middle position, blitzing was a risky proposition, and the Steelers only brought extra pressure on 10 snaps. This is one of many examples of how the Steelers defense didn’t have the proper cards in hand to compete.
And again, give Herbert credit, he was 7 of 10 for 143 yards and a touchdown against the blitz.
Big Ben has big game
Roethlisberger returned from a one-week hiatus on the covid list and, overall, Pittsburgh’s offense was in good health entering this game with no weather conditions to compete with. Was this the best the Steelers offense played all year? Yes. And it was clearly Roethlisberger’s best game as well…with zero practice time and getting over covid.
He had a few misses as usual, and his deep ball underthrow to receiver Chase Claypool really stands out negatively as well as his deep passing in general. Those aside, Roethlisberger threw the ball much better than usual and kept his team in this game.
His average depth of target dropped from 12.8 to 4.8 yards downfield from the first to second half, but Roethlisberger was precise with the football and threw in rhythm. He was more willing and more effective attacking the middle of the field. Roethlisberger’s seven completions of 15 yards or more matched his single-game high over the past two seasons.
Roethlisberger is operating under center more since the bye week, and the offense as a whole is using play-action more often and effectively. He has not thrown an interception since Oct. 3, and over his past five games, Roethlisberger has a passer rating of 104.4.
Steelers top targets step up
The Steelers best offensive player was Diontae Johnson, and he is really on the cusp of stardom as an upper tier wide receiver in this league. His contested catch ability, body control, sure hands and after-the-catch skills showed up more than ever against a good Chargers secondary.
But one disappointing wide receiver note: James Washington has been mostly invisible this year when he has been given opportunities to see the field, which he was once again in this game playing 46 of a possible 69 snaps.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth out snapped Eric Ebron 39 to 32. However, both tight ends ran a route on 26 occasions. Ebron wasn’t asked to pass block once and Freiermuth did so on only two occasions.
Bosa makes impact
Leading into this game, it looked like Los Angeles might be without Joey Bosa. Well, that wasn’t the case and Bosa was dominant, especially when it became apparent that this was going to be a pass-heavy offensive script. A tactic that the Chargers rarely use, Bosa was bumped inside as this game went along and just feasted on Pittsburgh’s interior offensive line, especially the left guard situation with Joe Haeg in for J.C. Hassenauer who was filling in for Kevin Dotson.
Starting Hassenauer was the right call and there was a drop-off when Haeg entered the game. Hassenauer played 26 snaps compared to 43 for Haeg, who is better at tackle than guard. Pittsburgh’s two offensive tackles allowed some pressure, but, overall, Dan Moore had a superior game to Chukwuma Okorafor.
It is also clear that center Kendrick Green excels blocking in space, but really struggles at the point of attack against big powerful nose tackle types.
The Steelers did do a decent job against the other Chargers defensive linemen besides Bosa, but the passing game was much more effective in the quick game vs. when Roethlisberger held the football.
Another Chargers defender, Drue Tranquill, deserves mentioning. He flew around the field and greatly impacted Pittsburgh’s passing game as a coverage player and blitzer. Los Angeles also moved Derwin James around a great deal in this game, and his impact was also really felt, although James did drop what should have been a Roethlisberger interception.
Steelers run game stifled
Pittsburgh’s run game did very little against the NFL’s worst run defense. That is concerning. But this rushing attack hasn’t been particularly efficient over the past handful of games. Rather, it was highly useful because Pittsburgh was able to stay with it and help control the flow of the game while taking the physicality to their opponent.
Game script really didn’t work that way against the Chargers, which of course, stems from Pittsburgh’s inability to get early defensive stops of any kind. The Steelers’ offensive line wasn’t moving bodies effectively in Los Angeles as well, but maybe it would have improved in the second half if the game script allowed for more running.
And there certainly is a lot of room to criticize the red zone play calling. Still, this ground game is far from where it needs to be.
Special teams were … special
There are many special teams nuggets to discuss. Special teams were extremely important in this game. The first punt of this game didn’t happen until the Steelers’ first possession of the second half, which was the only punt attempt of the game by either team that wasn’t blocked.
Ray Ray McCloud did a nice job on his kickoff returns, and kicker Chris Boswell was his usual outstanding self. But two little things to discuss. After scoring late in the first half, Pittsburgh kicked off and gave the ball back to Herbert, who had sliced the Steelers’ defense up all game, with 1:09 remaining on the clock.
Why not kick the ball in play, make the Chargers field it and make the clock run instead of blasting the kickoff out of the end zone?
Los Angeles did the same thing with 2:09 left in the game. The Chargers kicked it into the end zone instead of making the clock start. That gave Pittsburgh an extra timeout with the two-minute warning then in play.
Also, on a Dustin Hopkins field goal attempt to inevitably make the score 27-10, Sutton jumped offsides. That turned a 46-yard attempt into a 41-yard attempt that Hopkins connected on. It is great that Sutton is trying to make a big play there — the Steelers certainly needed one — but Hopkins is a struggling NFL kicker and giving him two chances to convert there is far from ideal.
Lastly, how about an onside kick attempt or some sort of trick play on special teams? These are low percentage plays, of course, but the Steelers had to steal a possession any way they possibly could to even hang around in this game where they had zero defense.
But how about that blocked punt by Miles Killebrew! Now, that gave the Steelers life in a game that Los Angeles had controlled to that point. Say what you want about the offensive play calling after that huge play, but Pittsburgh was back in the game at that point and the crowd was reignited.
Then, the defense offered zero resistance when Los Angeles got the ball back, and that was the story of this game. That was Killebrew’s second blocked punt as a Steeler. If it weren’t for that play and the Heyward deflection turned interception, this game probably wouldn’t have been close.
Coaching praise
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin deserves immense praise for this game. His team’s effort was simply outstanding, and many NFL squads would have mailed it in midway through this game rather than battle as the Steelers did. Even though their final offensive possession was a nightmare, Tomlin’s squad did rack up 27 fourth-quarter points.
Around the North
The AFC North is in turmoil, but every other team ended up getting a victory this week besides Pittsburgh. Cleveland and Baltimore barely got away with wins against the Lions and Bears, but still improved their records, nonetheless.
The Ravens didn’t have QB Lamar Jackson in their game due to illness and Cleveland QB Baker Mayfield is battling numerous injuries, but the teams these two played against didn’t start (Detroit) or finish (Chicago) Week 11 with their starting quarterback either.
As for the Bengals, they rebounded from their two-game losing streak in impressive fashion in Las Vegas to advance to 6-4, taking that game over in the second half. Cincinnati has the best point differential (+54) in the AFC North. Just a game and a half separate the first-place Ravens and fourth-place Browns.
The rest of the AFC is also difficult to grasp, especially with Buffalo and Tennessee losing by a combined 35 points to the Colts and Texans, respectively. The Patriots have the NFL’s current longest winning streak and are really hitting their stride, and Kansas City once again looks like a Super Bowl contender. At 6-4 and 6-5, the Chargers and Colts are back in the mix as well. Only four of the 16 AFC teams are under .500.
Coming into their game against the Chargers, Pittsburgh had the most difficult remaining schedule of any team in the NFL based on their winning percentage through 10 weeks of play. But the positive aspect of that is the Steelers have a chance to knock off their competitors for playoff spots head-to-head.
Getting back into AFC playoff contention won’t be easy as Pittsburgh sits in the eighth spot in the conference. It’s likely the defense will be healthier for this critical stretch, and if you take a step back and analyze everything at play for this game, you should take more positive away then negative.
Those positives stem from three stalwarts of this organization: Tomlin, Roethlisberger and Heyward.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.