If nothing else, the Pittsburgh Steelers promise to be entertaining this season. On Sunday, Steelers pulled off a thrilling 21-14 win over the New England Patriots. We have already gone back and rewatched the game with great detail and here are our big takeaways from the win.
Individually, this defense is good
As a group, the Steelers defense is a mess. Communication issues are still a thing and assignment football is still a problem. But multiple individual Steelers made tremendous individual plays, which highlight just how talented this group is. They just can’t seem to get on the same page.
We aren’t sure what Arthur Smith is doing
On Sunday, there were moments when it really looked like offensive coordinator Arthur Smith was coaching in 2025. And it looked great. Then he would go in stretches when it felt more like he was coaching in 2005. This really lends itself to a complete lack of offensive identity and limits the options for the players.
The Steelers can’t keep this up
As thrilling as these types of games are, there’s no way the Steelers can keep this up. This type of football is a recipe for long-term disappointment. Sneaking past teams like the New York Jets and New England Patriots is one thing but this won’t beat a team like the Baltimore Ravens or say the Seattle Seahawks.
Aaron Rodgers is good but…
There is still plenty of life in Aaron Rodgers’ arm. He showed it again on Sunday. But it’s tough to see him taking hits week after week and think his 41-year-old body will hold up. And even if it does, how will this impact him mentally when his teammates are letting him down?
T.J. Watt is back, maybe
It was tremendous to see T.J. Watt snap a six-game streak without a sack and get two against the Patriots. It really felt like Watt was back. But pardon us for being a bit skeptical but we want to see some sustained production like we see out of all the top pass rushers before we make any declarations.