Week 2 has come and gone in the 2024 NFL season, and the Steelers are 2-0 and atop of the AFC North! Here are some thoughts regarding this past week’s game.

The Defense Showed Up Again, As Expected

With two takeaways and only 6 points allowed, Pittsburgh once again had a stout showing from their defense. They were able to best rookie quarterback Bo Nix and company. None of this came as a surprise, but it is great to see as a Steelers fan and truly never gets old! I expect this unit to play at a high level all season and to be the keystone of this team.

Welcome to the NFL, Cory Trice

A combined skill and luck allowed Trice to intercept a pass on his first play in a regular season NFL game after being sidelined last year with injury. Congrats, Cory! Hopefully it will be the first of many.

The 2024 Steelers Have Found the Endzone

Although only one touchdown was scored this past week, the offense officially has scored 6 points on a drive. It was heartening to see a passing touchdown especially. Darnell Washington, the recipient of Fields’ first passing touchdown as a Steeler, is a sasquatch of a man at 6’7″. It would be great to see him more involved in the red zone offense in the games to come, and his huge frame provides quarterback Justin Fields with large target to hit when the field is small. With Fields’ second start under center, it felt as though the offensive playbook opened up slightly, and I am hopeful this will continue in subsequent weeks for as long as he is the starter. Here’s to more offensive TDs in Week 3.

The Offense Still Needs More Production

Here is the passing chart from NextGen Stats for Justin Fields this week. The ball was thrown over the middle of the field consistently this week, which I personally was happy to see. Following Week 1, Arthur Smith stated that the lack of throws over the middle against the Falcons was by design to avoid Jesse Bates III and his playmaking ability. Perhaps this week truly was different due to the gameplan against Denver’s defense. However, I also think allowing Fields to prepare as the starter for the week may have increased the coaches’ confidence in his ability to take care of the football. It is true that he has had his struggles with turnovers throughout his career. Turnovers do kill drives, and it is incredibly difficult to win a game when you lose the turnover battle. With that being said, for Pittsburgh to be successful over the course of the season and potentially be a playoff team, the offense needs to find ways to increase its production at some point. Unfortunately, a 13-point or 18-point outing against a team like the Kansas City Chiefs is just not enough to get the job done. For offensive production to increase, the passing game needs to strengthen and compliment the run game. Perhaps in Week 3 against Los Angeles, even more of the playbook will open up for Justin Fields and he will put up bigger numbers and more scores.

Overall, I think the offense was improved from Week 1 to Week 2, but that improvement needs to continue throughout the course of the season for this team to be a legitimate threat in the AFC.

Kings of the North

As it stands today, the Steelers are standing alone atop the AFC North at 2-0. It might be early in the season and improvements may need to be made, but it still is a great feeling! Eat your heart out, Baltimore. To continue controlling the division, it’s essential for wins to continue to stack up in the first half of the season when the schedule difficulty is much less. So far, that plan is working.