The good, the bad and the ugly of Steelers mind-numbing loss to Browns

The Bad: Everything about the Steelers' offense

It's reasonable to give the Steelers some grief for lining up against one of the league's best defenses and not performing perfectly. Heck, playing to an average level might have been reasonably acceptable.

But the Steelers offense was horrendous outside of one play.

How is it week 11 and the communication between Diontae Johnson and Kenny Pickett is so absent? Sure, Johnson missed time, but the quarterback and the number one receiver should have some report, especially on first and 10 with the game on the line.

Again, just as was outlined in last week's ugly section of this series, the route design is nauseating. Matt Canada's offense doesn't create opportunities for its playmakers whatsoever. The route-trees are simple and put no pressure on the defense. The lack of plays designed to get the ball in Johnson's hands, or George Pickens or Pat Freiermuth - or anyone - is a level of frustration that is a struggle to put into words.

Because the Steelers' pass game was even worse than normal, the run game suffered. Warren's 74-yard touchdown was exciting, but outside of that play, he had 11 touches for 61 yards. Harris had next to no room to run after a promising first quarter. His handoffs looked like pre-BYE 2022 all over again with him getting swarmed in the backfield as soon as he got the handoff.

We'll get to Kenny Pickett's performance in a second, but Canada played a pretty big role yet again by not challenging Cleveland's defense whatsoever. That's the thing about playing conservative, playing not to lose - It allows an aggressive defense to dictate the entire game.