4 biggest causes of concern Steelers vs Washington Week 13

Steelers dropping the ball

The Steelers offense has become frustratingly one dimensional, as the team is opting to pass and only run when necessary. While this has worked well enough to get to 11-0, the Ravens showed just how big of an issue this can be. The Steelers offense was not in sync when they played the Ravens. With Ben Roethlisberger has his share of struggles, the biggest issue was the Steelers receivers dropping catchable passes.

While everyone and their brother will jump on Diontae Johnson for this, there are other guilty party members. Chase Claypool and even JuJu Smith-Schuster showed suspect hands (Smith-Schuster by way of a fumble). Claypool has been able to win deep, but he has had quite a few catchable deep balls fly through his hands and bounce off his chest. His hands have been the worst part of his good rookie season so far.

That said, Johnson has been the worst offender in this regard. As bad as it sounds, Johnson has delivered at least one bad mistake every game. While his good outweighs the bad, his hands are a huge issue. He dropped at least three catchable balls against the Ravens. Stats like that will kill an offense.

While this team has found obvious success, if it wants to remain so pass-happy, they need to get these drops under control. If the Steelers want Johnson to be a primary target, he needs to have his hands worked on, so he doesn’t keep making these mistakes. The whole crew can strengthen their hands, but Johnson is the primary issue here. For a team that wants to throw the ball, these issues need to be fixed if a deep playoff run is to occur.