NFL Playoff Preview Countdown: No. 13 Pittsburgh Steelers

This is an excerpt from this week’s edition of Mike Tanier’s NFL Walkthrough, available every Monday at The Messenger…

2023 Season in a Nutshell

The Steelers wasted three months refusing to admit that offensive coordinator Matt Canada could lose to a preschooler in Tic-Tac-Toe and that Kenny Pickett wasn’t a gritty comeback specialist and “leader of men” but an overdrafted prospect with C-tier talent and intangibles. The Steelers only stayed in the playoff chase due to outstanding defense and narrow wins over sloppy opponents.

Canada was fired midseason, veteran third-stringer Mason Rudolph took over in Week 16, and the Steelers offense reinvented itself as a power-rushing attack that takes occasional deep shots to George Pickens and Diontae Johnson. The Steelers went 3–0 down the stretch, including Saturday’s soggy 17–10 win over a Ravens team resting its starters. They clinched a playoff berth when the Jaguars lost in chumptastic fashion to the Titans on Sunday.

Quarterback Kenny Pick … er, Mitch Trubisk … er, Mason Rudolph

Rudolph is one of the league’s best third-stringers, which is not the same as actually being good. He meets all the basic NFL requirements, has been with the franchise long enough to have shared the locker room with Antonio Brown and is not as reluctant to launch 50-50 balls to Pickens as Pickett was.

Pickett remains the Steelers’ nominal quarterback of the future and will be Rudolph’s backup if Mike Tomlin asks nicely and no one says any mean things about him.

Offense

New offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner and play-caller Mike Sullivan like to use three-tight end sets to force opponents to defend as many gaps as possible. Najeh Harris (34) and Jaylen Warren (28) ranked first and tied with Christian McCaffrey for second in broken tackles on running plays entering Week 18.

Pickens caught 11 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns in Rudolph’s first two starts but was shut out in the rain on Saturday. Johnson delivered the catch-and-run highlight to beat the Ravens but is more of a slippery possession receiver. The Steelers offensive line looks much better when firing off to run block than in pass protection.

Defense

T.J. Watt finished the season as a Defensive Player of the Year shortlister with an NFL-high 19.5 sacks. His Grade 3 MCL sprain on Saturday could be a crushing blow, however, to a defense that relies on its pass rush (47 sacks) and takeaways (27) to not just keep games within reach of their offense but protect their rookies (Joey Porter Jr.) and old timers (Patrick Peterson) at cornerback.

Special Teams

The Steelers blocked two punts this year. It’s also worth noting that opponents were just 4-of-7 on 50-plus yard field goals, with missed field goals by opponents impacting a few of their wins (see the Rams game). It’s better to be good than lucky, but it’s best to be both.

Bottom Line

Mike Tomlin deserves credit for keeping the Steelers at or above .500 since the George W. Bush administration but blame for not taking the necessary steps to solve the team’s offensive problems sooner. Watt’s likely absence will doom the Steelers in the playoffs; broken tackles and paint-by-numbers passing plays won’t cut it against the Bills. Still, it took resilience to get this far, and Rudolph’s late-season emergence should at least help the team shed any delusions about Pickett moving forward.