Pundits identified the Week 4 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts as a possible trap game for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers did little to suggest that it wasn’t.
A week after they won a showdown with one of the elite defenses in the league, the Steelers gave up two touchdowns on Indianapolis’ first two drives. Eighteen minutes into the game, the Colts had 17 points; the Steelers allowed just 26 points in their first three games combined.
The Pittsburgh offense wasn’t crisp either. Although the Steelers rallied to score three second-half touchdowns, they also had 2 turnovers and a botched snap that helped ruin the team’s 2-minute offense.
While speaking to reporters after the game, though, veteran safety DeShon Elliott presented an easy solution to fix the team’s Week 4 mistakes — practice better.
“Steelers safety DeShon Elliott says they need to work a little harder at practice,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko wrote on X after the Colts loss. “Not because they were feeling themselves at 3-0 or anything, but he just didn’t think they had a great week as far as attention to detail.”
https://twitter.com/BrianBatko/status/1840492191124226227
During Week 4, the Steelers allowed the Colts to convert 8 of 15 third-down opportunities and gave up 4 sacks. The Steelers also committed 6 penalties for 53 yards.
Steelers Lack Attention to Detail in Week 4
Pittsburgh’s late botched snap isn’t in Week 4 box score. But the play epitomized how the Steelers failed to take care of the little details against the Colts.
The Steelers faced first-and-10 at their own 42-yard line with 1:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, trailing by 3. They had orchestrated touchdown-drives of less than 3 minutes and 30 seconds on each of their previous three possessions. Furthermore, Chris Boswell had already made a 50-yard field goal in the game.
So, the Steelers appeared to be in prime position to at least kick a field to tie the score, if not win the game.
But on first-and-10, quarterback Justin Fields and center Zach Frazier had a miscommunication with the snap. Fields wasn’t expecting the ball when Frazier snapped it.
Fortunately, Fields landed on the ball, but for a 12-yard loss.
Two plays later, Najee Harris gained 11 yards on a short reception. But he failed to run out of bounds, which caused the clock to continue to run.
As a result, the Steelers faced fourth-and-11 with a running clock (Mike Tomlin elected to save his final timeout). Fields rushed the Steelers to the line of scrimmage to call the play. His throw fell incomplete.
NFL players shouldn’t have trouble executing basic football basics such as snaps and running out of bounds in the 2-minute drill.
“No matter who is to blame, what’s obvious is the Steelers snap issues must stop,” Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora wrote. “Third time this year (once in preseason, twice in regular season), Fields hasn’t expected snap.
“In addition to the long line of other snap problems.”
“Najee Harris went completely brain dead at a crucial moment,” wrote Steelers Sanctuary. “I can’t this is right up there with the worst gaffes in Steelers history.”
DeShon Elliott, Steelers Accountable for Mistakes
The good news is the Steelers didn’t quit in Week 4. After Fields lost a fumble on a 20-yard sack during a third-quarter drive that began on the Colts 33-yard line, the Steelers offense came to life.
Pittsburgh scored more points in the final 20 minutes against the Colts than it did in any of its first three games.
It wasn’t enough, but if there was any other good news, other Steelers players besides Elliott offered constructive criticism on where they need to improve.
Both Fields and Frazier accepted blame for the botched snap.
“First and foremost, I think you can tip your cap to the other team, but I think at the end of the day, we beat ourselves,” Fields told reporters. “We had two fumbles, one by me and another by GP. Those are six points right there, we don’t find ourselves in that position.”
Rookie left guard Mason McCormick also took blame for the fumbled snap.
“Was asking Zach Frazier about the early snap at the end of the game,” Steelers insider Mark Kaboly wrote on X. “He was struggling trying to explain it when LG Mason McCormick interjected: ‘It was all of our faults.'”
It will be interesting to see if Elliott approves of the team’s practice performance a little more before Week 5. The Steelers will host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night on October 6.
