What we learned from Steelers win against Eagles

The Steelers held on yet again to remain undefeated through four games of the 2020 NFL season

I know I have said this several times before, but why does it seem like we are always on a roller coaster ride watching Steelers games? Look, I’m ecstatic we were able to get the win against the Eagles, but it was far from a perfect game.  Honestly, I don’t know if the Steelers will have an easy win this season, but that’s a good problem to have when we’re undefeated.

In a game where the defense seemingly could just not stop the Eagles offense, our offense was able to put up enough points to ultimately keep the game out of reach. After being up by 17 points in the third quarter, the Steelers ‘D’ allowed the Eagles to cut the deficit to just two points.

It all worked out in the end, but, as I said, it was another ‘roller coaster’ ride of a win. So, what did we learn from our win against the Eagles?  Let’s take a look.

The Steelers offense has become creative and may have found a future star at WR

So when I say the Steelers offense has become creative, what I mean by that is this:  I honestly cannot remember a game where we called multiple ‘jet sweep’ plays in one game. To put this into perspective, our leading rusher against the Eagles was Ray-Ray McCloud, our WR who was signed in August.

I think it’s great that the Steelers offense was able to get contributions in the running game from players who are not listed as running backs; however, the purist in me is really not happy with the fact that our leading rusher against the Eagles was a WR and not a RB.

What I am happy about is that we may have found a future star at WR.  Chase Claypool, our second-round pick in 2020, had a breakout game. For the record, Claypool was the player both my son and I predicted the Steelers would draft in the second round, which was essentially our first pick in the 2020 draft.

Claypool finished the day with 7 receptions for 110 yards and 3 TDs.  The reason my son and I both thought the Steelers would draft Claypool is this: we needed a ‘big body’, fast WR who could stretch the field and Claypool provides both of those tangible assets.

The Steelers ‘D’ got exposed but stepped up when we had to

Look, I am a purist on both sides of the ball, but particularly on defense.  When I started watching the Steelers, we had already won two Super Bowls on a very simple formula: a ‘power run’ game on offense and a smothering defense.

When I say we got exposed on defense, here’s what I mean by that: we had a 17-point lead in the 3rd quarter, allowed the Eagles to cut that lead to two points, but came up with the necessary stops when we needed them.  My concern is this: what if the Steelers ‘D’ was not able to come up with the stops at the end of the game?

For the record, I am not a fan of playing ‘man-to-man’ if our CBs are not going to be able to hold up consistently.  We gave up 242 net passing yards thanks to the five sacks we were able to generate, but what if we were not able to get those sacks?

There’s nothing wrong with being aggressive, e.g. blitzing seemingly every play, but if the blitz doesn’t get there, a big play generally happens.  That was the case against the Eagles.

The Steelers are undefeated but a flawed team nonetheless

I will repeat what I said earlier:  I am ecstatic that we beat the Eagles who played us tough; I am ecstatic that we are undefeated, but I wonder how long that will last.  It is much better to work on our flaws as an undefeated team as opposed to a winless team.

I will take a win in any way, shape, or form. A win is a win is a win is a win.  As I have said repeatedly, we are only as good as our most recent game and will only be as good as our next game.  Right now, the Steelers are a four-win, undefeated team and that is awesome.