Week two finds the Steelers atop the AFC North at 2-0, while Cleveland has managed one victory and Baltimore and Cincy are riding drag with goose eggs in the win column. So, the season is going great and there’s nothing to complain about, right?

A quick look at fan reactions and that’s not the case. Complaints about the offense are plentiful, and criticism abounds regarding the amount of points scored. Let’s take a closer look at what transpired in Denver and see what qualifies as the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good:

A win is a win is a win, especially on the road, and even more so in a place like Denver. I don’t care what it looks like, if you leave the Rocky Mountains with a W, take it without complaint.

Justin Fields has done exactly what the coaching staff has asked of him. Win the time of possession, protect the football, make a few big plays when needed. Without some questionable penalties yet again, Fields would have a much different stat line for this game with two touchdowns and about 100 more passing yards.

George Pickens went up against a premier corner and won the matchup. Even better, he did not suffer an injury on a hip drop tackle. If Denver played on turf instead of grass, Steeler Nation could be in mourning right now at the loss of the star wideout. I was so relieved watching the game live that Pickens was able to jump his feet out of the grass and land on his butt that I didn’t even care about the holding call on that play.

Still thinking about this throw and catch which got negated by a penalty. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/yFlGd8VeNo

— Jeff Hartman (@JHartman_PIT) September 16, 2024

Darnell Washington had a pass thrown to him in the end zone! And he caught it for a touchdown! The most obvious mismatch on the field was finally taken advantage of, and we should all be happy about that. I’ve said in previous articles that Washington could have Bettis-like stats when he split carries with Duce Staley, where Darnell has less than twenty yards receiving but three receptions all resulting in scores. If he’s being covered by someone under six feet tall…throw him the damn ball!

Defensive players keep making splash plays and forcing turnovers. TJ Watt is a one man wrecking crew despite never getting a holding call. You would think a rear naked choke hold would be worthy of a flag every once in a while, but I guess not. Cam Heyward drew multiple blockers against Denver, freeing up others to pressure the QB. Cory Trice Jr made a great read on the coverage to get his first interception, killing a scoring drive.

The Bad:

13 points will not win games against good teams. Jeff Hartman described last year’s team as fragile, meaning one setback like an ill-timed penalty or bad bounce of the ball could derail a drive. That still appears to be the case so far this year. To beat the good teams coming up, the offense will have to score points regardless of the refs, early down mistakes, or fluky plays.

Receivers were running wide open in the secondary. Giving the defense the benefit of the doubt, perhaps that was strategic in trying to bait the rookie QB into throwing to the middle of the field in the hopes of getting interceptions. Denver bailed out the defense by dropping several passes, and Bo Nix did not spot the open guys very often. Justin Herbert is coming to town next weekend, and he will not miss those opportunities.

Penalties killed drives and put the offense behind schedule in the second half. Some were legit, while others like the holding call on Dan Moore Jr were highly questionable. The team can fix the self-inflicted wounds, but unfortunately the phantom flags are completely out of the team’s control. The only way to combat bad calls is to be an offense that can make big chunk plays downfield when they need it most. None of us really know if they can because the game plan for these first two games has been extremely conservative. Against the Chargers, big plays will be needed.

The Ugly:

Broderick Jones getting pulled after several penalties in mid-drive is mind boggling. It’s one thing to be swapping O-line players in training camp, but to be doing it in game makes me think the coaching staff was suffering from altitude sickness. Putting him out there in the first place was setting him up to fail. I know fans are down on the player, but the team should own much of the blame for this fiasco. Running backs are a one-two punch, but subbing out tackles every third drive is madness. Set the line and let them gel. If that means Jones is the back-up left tackle for now, so be it.

Any way you slice it, getting two road wins to start the season means your fan glass of water should be half full. That’s a difficult task under the best of circumstances, and the Steelers got it done while installing a new offense with a quarterback that didn’t even know he was starting week one until right before the game. Now they face a new challenge in a much better team coming to see them at home. The ultra conservative offensive game plan won’t beat the Justin Herbert led not-the-San Diego Chargers. Sorry, LA is never going to sound right to my ears. If Justin Fields is still the starter, he will have to engineer some scoring drives. Give this defense 20 points and they will more often than not win the game. It might take at least that much next week.

Whether or not they are up to the challenge remains to be seen. The organization and the fans will know much more about the team after hosting the Chargers next week. Win or lose, it will be good for the offense to open up and see what it can do. There are games looming on the horizon where they will need maximum effort from all phases of the game, and week three is as good a time as any to find out what they are made of.