6 winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers clumsy Week 4 loss

A loss by the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Indianapolis Colts minus Anthony Richardson is a tough pill to swallow. By all indications, Pittsburgh should have cruised to a victory. Indianapolis’ weaknesses aligned perfectly with Pittsburgh’s strengths. Fields had an opportunity to bolster his case against the 31st-ranked defense in total yards allowed. 

Richardson’s sub-50 completion percentage was being dragged even further into hell by a 3-to-6 touchdown-interception ratio as he struggled to feed No. 1 receiver Michael Pittman. And yet, it reeked of a trap game.

The Colts felt like a sandcastle ready to be knocked down until Break Glass In Case of Emergency Quarterback Joe Flacco brought the nuclear heat that transformed the Indianapolis Colts offense into an impenetrable brick wall. The Steelers aren't used to losing games like this to inferior opponents. Nor are they used to losing close games. A year ago, they were 9-2 in one-possession games. The Steelers squandered a chance to go 4-0 while suddenly the Baltimore Ravens are banging back into the AFC North race and Joe Burrow is bound to warm up. It's a learning experience. The question will be how they respond.

With that said, here are the Steelers’ winners and losers from Sunday’s clumsy defeat.

Winner: Justin Fields' downfield passing 

In the Steelers' opening pair of wins, Fields demonstrated the discipline to progress through reads quickly and efficiently. Last week, he dotted up the Chargers across the middle. This week, he stretched the field vertically when the Chargers needed to stage a comeback.  Even in a loss, Fields raised his floor again. Until Sunday, it felt like he was largely a passenger in the Steelers' self-driving offense. With the Steelers trailing 17-0, Fields took the wheel and nearly put together a photo finish.

Pittsburgh was digging out a hole for most of the afternoon, and while the box score attributes a pair of fumbles to Fields, adding to his league-leading total since 2021, Fields didn’t crater. Instead, Fields rallied the offense to mount an electric comeback attempt that fell short after standout rookie center Zach Frazier snapped the ball early on 1st and 10, bouncing the ball directly into Fields’ facemask.

Fields’ earlier fumble was a product of the brand of reckless hero ball that doomed him in Chicago. Spinning into the backfield with tacklers pursuing him cost the Steelers three points, but it was also the result of a poor ruling by the officials who missed the contact with the turf causing the fumble. 

Winner: Cordarrelle Patterson

Against the league’s 31st rushing defense, Najee Harris was only able to muster 19 yards on 13 carries. At 33, Patterson has a knack for escaping into the open field and he did so consistently on Sunday with six carries for a gain of over 40 yards before going down with an ankle injury of his own. Depending on how much time, if any Patterson misses, getting him more touches when he’s healthy has to be a point of order to spark their dormant ground game. 

Winner: George Pickens

If Fields gets more comfortable throwing deep, then Pickens, who led the league in yards-per-reception last season can cook on the outside. Pickens has been waiting for a breakout performance this year to light his pilot light. When Fields lets it rip downfield, Pickens eats well. On Sunday, Pickens had his best outing of the season, reeling in seven of 11 targets for 117 yards as Fields finally ditched the dink-and-dunk attack to put on a laser show. 

Losers: Russell Wilson watching his Ghost of Season’s Future

Wilson was watching his career trajectory play out as Joe Flacco took the field for the Colts. A former Super Bowl champion whose status as an elite passer polarized fans until he was benched following the ascension of a springy dual-threat passer, sounds a lot like the injured Wilson’s predicament. One difference between Flacco and Wilson is that at 40, Flacco is still 6-foot-6 while Wilson relies on movement that will decline every year. 

Wilson was named the regular season starter, but a calf injury has had him rehabbing for nearly a month now. In the meantime, Fields has taken the starting job and sprinted away from Wilson with it. Wilson shrinks into the foreground every week, unless Fields has a disastrous outing against the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.

Losers: Pittsburgh running backs and ball carriers

The ground game for Pittsburgh is more sluggish than World War I trench warfare. The only running back to emerge unscathed from the past two weeks is Najee Harris, who was last seen speed walking for 1.5 yards a carry against a porous Colts run D. Cordarrelle Patterson was carted off. Jaylen Warren hasn’t been gimpy for one reason or another since early in training camp. The aforementioned Pickens also cost Pittsburgh points by being careless with the ball and getting it ripped out on the sideline following a huge chunk gain. It was arguably the slopiest play of all, but it was buried by the two plays involving Fields. The Steelers should be 4-0 were it not for their mental mistakes.

Losers: Zach Frazier-Justin Fields chemistry

Those Pro Football Focus grades touting Zach Frazier as the NFL’s best young center often tout his blocking, but fails to account for his inability to consistently initiate a clean exchange with Fields. They're seemingly both to blame. Fields' hands turn into chopsticks when he sees a snap coming and Frazier can’t seem to read the snap count. On Sunday, Frazier snapping it early may have cost the Steelers a win.

On Sunday’s deceive 1st and 10, the offensive line didn’t appear to be set and guard Mason Mccormick appeared to be completely unprepared for the snap. It’s hard to understand what is going on here. Fields also fumbled his first-ever regular-season snap as a Steeler and had similar issues during the preseason. Frazier and Fields need to attend a retreat together or execute trust drills because they’re on different pages thus far. 

Losers: Pittsburgh Steelers defense:

The Steelers were prepared for Anthony Richardson’s legs, not Flacco’s arm. The latter diced Pittsburgh’s defense up in the first half with more control than any quarterback they’ve faced to date, including Justin Herbert. The defense finally showed a few cracks.

The defense that tackled better than any NFL team, brought consistent pressure week after week without blitzing at a prolific rate faltered. On the bright side, Nate Herbig continued his breakout season and recorded a huge sack late in the game that put the offense in position to play for the win or overtime, but it wasn’t meant to be. They'll bounce back. The highs of the first three weeks couldn't last forever, but they spaced out in Week 4 during a trap game they should have been locked in for.