When the Steelers play a primetime game like they did this past Sunday, it frees up my viewing choices for the day games. After watching the Jayden Daniels led Commanders destroy the Bengals a few weeks back, I wanted to see if they could do the same thing to the Browns. With the injuries piling up combined with last week’s performance against the Colts, I wasn’t feeling too optimistic for Pittsburgh in the Cowboys game. I needed to get in some feel-good football, and watching DeShaun Watson and the Browns get sliced and diced is always good for the soul.

Sliced and diced they were, but my enjoyment quickly turned to envy and depression. It brought back the memory of being a lowly naval airman stationed in San Diego at NAS North Island. My route to work took me from Imperial Beach up the strand to drive past the famous Hotel Del Coronado. I would be sitting at the light wearing my Navy work dungarees in my 1992 Ford Escort station wagon with all of 88 hp rumbling under the hood, and without fail, some rich guy in an exotic European sports car would leave the hotel with a supermodel in the passenger seat and pull up right beside me. Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, McLaren…it was like I was in the Need For Speed video game as some loser NPC that gets blown off the road every few laps. I’d get to my squadron all depressed thinking about how I needed to eat ramen noodle soup five nights a week just so I’d have enough money for gas.

That’s how I felt watching the Commanders and their explosive offense. There is no reason for Jayden Daniels to be this amazing this soon. They are aggressive and push the ball down the field, attacking the defense on every possession. Daniels is dropping 40 yard deep balls on a dime like he is walking down and handing the ball to the receiver. He is making reads and finding the open man like a veteran all-star. It is extremely impressive, especially when I compare it to the offense of the Steelers we have all been watching for several years now. When I first saw that Washington was on the schedule, I had penciled that in as an easy win. Now, I’m not even sure I can bring myself to watch that game. It could be ugly.

So when the game finally did start late Sunday night, I was expecting to see the same conservative play calls on offense, but surprisingly, they were actually fairly aggressive. There were several deep pass attempts on early downs in the first four possessions. They just didn’t hit on them. Some of it was protection issues, some were receivers dropping passes, some were inaccurate throws that missed the target. There is much criticism of Arthur Smith and comparisons to it being the same as Matt Canada. That’s not the case when it comes to play design and selection. Unfortunately, where it is the same is in the results. Scoring is basically the same. This is a results business, and business is bad.

If the design is better and the in-game play calling is also improved, why are the results stuck in the past? Injuries to the offensive line and running backs, lack of execution, and lack of effort by the one wide receiver with game changing potential are all playing a part. Go back and listen to the comments by Pat Freiermuth, and you will hear a growing frustration at players not giving their all, and without naming names, it sure seemed to be pointed at #14. Mike Tomlin’s explanation for Pickens being held out for so many plays is maddening. I expect to be lied to at the podium. Coaches are under no obligation to tell the truth, but don’t insult our intelligence by making it so ridiculous. Put a little effort into the lie, or just say “no comment.”

There’s a difference between a player struggling because they are being misused or put in bad positions, and someone that clearly is mentally weak and only tries when he thinks the play is focused on him. For example, Beanie Bishop struggled in this game, but he’s an undersized rookie thrown into the fire trying to learn a complicated defense and adjust to NFL play on the fly. It’s not from lack of effort or talent. Patrick Queen isn’t making splash plays that make a huge impact on the game, but he’s being asked to wear the green dot in his first year, when he would clearly be better off as a point and shoot linebacker not having to think about everyone else on the field. Again, it’s not a lack of effort there. That’s the organization failing to address slot cornerback depth in the offseason, and the coaching staff failing to recognize they would be better off with a veteran of the defense like Elandon Roberts having the green dot to start the season, respectively.

It’s tough when the team’s most talented receiver is also the person they can count on the least for maximum effort. Defenses know they can get in George’s head and take him out of the game mentally. His teammates can’t trust him to run routes when he isn’t the first read or to block on a run play. That is a problem. He’s Axl Rose from the height of Guns & Roses…he might show up and tear the roof off the place with an amazing performance, or he might get in his feelings and burn down the arena before the concert even starts. No matter how talented George Pickens may be, performances like last night weaken the entire offense. This was a problem last season, and now it’s an issue again. When people show you who they are, believe them.

Justin Fields has played better than expected, but he is missing reads that he should be seeing. I’ve heard it repeated many times since the Cowboys game that no one was open, but after watching the all-22, that is not exactly the case. CA3 was open several times on routes that could have been huge plays, but he was not seen, just as an example. The plays over the middle have still been absent all season, but Kyle Allen came in cold off the bench and immediately hit Freiermuth for a big gain in the middle of the field. There are plays to be had where guys are NLF open if the QB recognizes it in time. Do that three or four times a game, and it dramatically changes the results.

That is why I would be all for playing Russell Wilson if he is fully healthy this week. It’s not that Fields has been bad, but he’s not lighting it up either. Again, it’s a results business, and the points just are not there. Seeing what Wilson has to offer is just due diligence at this point. The team should find out what they have with him now before the second half of the schedule arrives. It’s not like they can’t go back to Fields if Wilson doesn’t improve the bottom line. I think the coaching staff might trust Wilson with a more aggressive attacking passing game, and right now the pass has to soften the box for the run game to have any chance.

The Steelers are a very average football team dealing with key injuries and riding a rough two game losing streak. They also were just a few plays away from pulling out victories in both of those losses, despite getting outplayed. What the team would give up in designed QB runs might be worth it if the more proven passer in Wilson can deliver the accurate balls to the open guy like I saw on his tape from last year. Would that improve the results? The only way to know for sure would be to play him and find out. With both Fields and Wilson on one year deals, they should find out for sure what they have in both in my humble opinion.

Scoring an average of around 18 points a game is not going to win a wild card playoff game, as this team has proven time after time. It will take 30 plus to even make it a game against the Commanders in week 10. The standard is the standard, as Mike Tomlin likes to say, but where exactly is the standard set right now? Doing just enough to win close games will not improve the team or prepare it to be serious contenders in the playoffs where the competition ramps up. Playing .500 ball every season and not being prepared to win a playoff game should not be the standard. The only way to change that is to learn how to go out and win a game during the regular season, not just survive one.