4 Steelers stats that were completely unacceptable vs Packers in Week 4

The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t even make it a contest with the Packers in Week 4, and these four stats certainly didn’t help. 

Pittsburgh’s offense gave fans a boost of false hope early in the Week 4 road contest against the Green Bay Packers. After scoring on an opening-drive touchdown for the first time since mid-season last year, Ben Roethlisberger and company fell flat for the rest of the game — eventually resulting in a 27-17 loss.

The Steelers had plenty of opportunities to put up points in this contest but to no avail. Sadly, the results were much of the same in their third straight loss, and Pittsburgh made some colossal mistakes that contributed to this. Here are four statistics that were completely unacceptable against the Packers this week:

James Washington and Pat Freiermuth combined for just 6 targets

If everyone and their mother are screaming for Pat Freiermuth and James Washington to get more touches on offense, why hasn’t this happened yet? Despite Pittsburgh being without Chase Claypool in this contest and with Eric Ebron currently grading out as one of the worst tight ends in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus, we would think Washington and Freiermuth would be called upon more often.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case, despite their efforts in limited action to begin the season, these two underrated skill players combined for just 6 targets in the passing game. Of the 6 targets, 5 were deemed catchable, and Washington and Freiermuth combined to catch all 5 for 80 yards (16.0 yards per reception).

We know these two players need to be utilized more, but either Matt Canada isn’t getting them enough routes on offense or Ben Roethlisberger just isn’t looking in their direction. This target share must improve for these two players as the season goes on.