The Steelers had a lot of hype surrounding their first game of the season as they had put together a strong offseason overall. As we all saw, that hype wasn’t warranted, as this team had a miserable outing in week one. There weren’t a lot of positives to come away from that game, and Pittsburgh is now set to face off against a Browns team that similarly dismantled the Bengals.
I don’t expect the same Steelers team to play as they did in week one. Frankly, they can’t afford it, as a similar showing will significantly dampen the odds of this team being something this season. They need to turn it around this week. Here are four questions the Steelers must answer against the Browns.
Can the Steelers overcome their injuries?
While getting blown out in embarrassing fashion is tough to deal with, getting blown out and losing some key starters is even worse. Cameron Heyward exited the game early due to a groin injury, and he will seemingly miss roughly half the season as he hopes to recover and return to form. Diontae Johnson is sidelined for the next few weeks with a hamstring injury on top of all of this.
The Steelers have a lot of kinks to iron out already, and losing these players only hurts their chances more. Despite both of these positions seeming deep in the offseason, neither group was up to par in week one. There are a lot of questions surrounding both the receivers and defensive line this week.
I want to see the likes of DeMarvin Leal, Calvin Austin, and rookie Keeanu Benton show up in a more impactful way this week. The team needs them to if they want to have any shot of winning. If they can’t overcome these injuries this week, we are likely looking at another blowout.