Well, 30 minutes into the new Pittsburgh Steelers offense and Pittsburgh trails the Cincinnati Bengals 7-3. Did the change work? Well, sort of. Here are our takeaways from the first half.
Kenny Pickett is going to be OK
If you wondered if Kenny Pickett could play, the first half should have helped you relax about that concern. Pickett has 149 passing yards at halftime and looks sharp. You can see the changes in the offense paying off for him already.
Mistakes cost points
The Steelers have missed out on points twice in the first half, both on the same drive. First was a mistake by head coach Mike Tomlin who didn’t challenge the Diontae Johnson touchdown and cost the team a score and then on the next play running back Jaylen Warren fumbled when the team would have at minimum gotten a field goal.
Defense making Jake Browning look good
What is it about this defense that makes mediocre quarterbacks look good? The pass rush is still not there, coverage and tackling are suspect and with Matt Canada gone, Teryl Austin’s seat should be heating up.
The second half belongs to the Steelers
No one expected the Steelers to blow out the Bengals but this game is really lining up for the Steelers to step up and wear done Cincinnati in the second half.
