The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Los Angeles Chargers 25-10 on Sunday night. After the defeat, one of ESPN’s top NFL analysts, Dan Orlovsky, officially put the team and fan base on notice.
Orlovsky did that with a post on X early Monday morning.
“Last night should worry Steelers and their fans,” wrote Orlovsky.
The ESPN analyst didn’t elaborate Monday morning on what’s troubling him about the Steelers. But Orlovsky could point to plenty of reasons to be concerned.
In particular, the Steelers offense played poorly versus the Chargers. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had his worst game of the season, completing barely 50% of his passes and throwing two interceptions before a garbage time touchdown.
Dan Orlovsky Echos Steelers ‘In the Worst Place They Can Be’ Sentiment
While he hasn’t addressed the warning he delivered on the Steelers, Orlovsky did respond to one reaction from a Pittsburgh fan on X.
The social media user posted he was “numb” to the kind of performance the Steelers had in Week 10. The user then stated the team was “destined for 9-8” and a “wild card loss.”
Orlovsky quipped in reply: “So when I said, ‘they’re in the worst place they can be’ and Steelers fans lost their minds on me …”
Again, that isn’t a very specific critic of the Steelers in Week 10. But judging Orlovsky is a former quarterback, it’s a safe bet the analyst would rip the team’s passing attack.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers finished Sunday night 16 for 31 with 161 passing yards. His 5.2 yards per attempt was a season low.
The Steelers had just 156 offensive yards before their touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. That came when the team trailed by 22 points with fewer than five minutes remaining.
The veteran quarterback missed two throws in the first half that could have greatly changed the complexion of the game. One of the incompletions may have been a long touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf.
While Rodgers’s play stuck out as poor, the Steelers playmakers, as has been the case for most of this season, didn’t offer much help.
Metcalf received double coverage most of the night. Rodgers struggled to find his other receivers open, and the team’s other pass-catchers weren’t creating enough separation to make plays.
The NFL trade deadline has passed. The Steelers tried to acquire a receiver but were unable to. The lack of a better WR2 option could be part of why Orlovsky said the team and fan base should be worried.
Steelers’ Prove Orlovsky’s Pit Defense Hot Take Correct
On Monday morning, there was a decent chance the ESPN analyst also felt vindication about another opinion he expressed about the Steelers following Week 9.
On November 2, the Steelers defeated the Indianapolis Colts, who entered the contest with the No. 1 offense and only one loss. Pittsburgh used six takeaways to upset Indianapolis.
Despite the win, Orlovsky criticized the Steelers defense.
“There is no team in the NFL right now that is benefitting more off turnovers like the Steelers,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s First Take on November 3, via Steelers Depot’s Jeremy Pike. “If they get turnovers, they play good defensively. They’ve beaten the Patriots, and they’ve beaten the Colts because they’ve gotten 11 turnovers in [those games].
“But if they don’t, you can get after them. If the Steelers get takeaways, they could beat anybody. If they don’t, they can get beat by anybody.”
In Week 10, the Steelers defense didn’t get any takeaways. They dropped to 1-3 in games where they don’t cause a turnover.
It’s hard to argue with Orlovsky’s point about how the Steelers defeated the Colts and Patriots. New England lost four fumbles in Pittsburgh’s Week 3 victory at Foxboro. If the two teams meet again, it’s unlikely the Steelers could repeat its five takeaway performance to defeat the Patriots a second time.
But Orlovsky also partially stated the obvious with that hot take — any NFL team can beat anybody if they are getting takeaways.
What the takeaways did for the Steelers against the Colts, though, is set up the offense with short fields. Pittsburgh’s offense could have benefitted from better starting field position against the Chargers because of how poorly they were moving the ball.
No short fields in Week 10 just helped highlight how bad the Steelers offense played.
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