20. Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week: 12th
In back-to-back games, the Steelers’ defense – which is supposed to be the hallmark of the team – gave up more than 30 points. And seeing what the Jets did in Week 2 offensively (even with Justin Fields getting hurt), it’s hard not to be at least a little concerned.
Aaron Rodgers was juiced up and the adrenaline was rushing in Week 1 with the Steelers winning a shootout with the Jets, but the offense fell flat in Week 2 and couldn’t do any better than 17 points and a game-sealing interception.
It was a rough day at the office for the Steelers on third down, converting just 33 percent of their attempts (5-of-15). The Steelers also had a complete whiff on special teams, to be fair to the Pittsburgh defense in this one. Rookie running back Kaleb Johnson left a live ball in the end zone for the Seahawks to recover for six.
It’s back to the drawing board for a team that looked like it was going to be able to build on a strong Week 1 performance. The Steelers play in New England in Week 3.
19. Seattle Seahawks
Last week: 25th
Well, we’ve got to take the Seattle Seahawks seriously after what we saw in Week 2. Week 1 was not an inspiring start for the Sam Darnold/Klint Kubiak era in Seattle, but to go on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers and hang 31 points on them?
I mean, even TJ Watt was doing some declaring before this game about seeing a “Steeler” defense in Week 2, so the way the Seahawks played is all the more impressive.
Maybe the most impressive play in this game was a huge run by Kenneth Walker on 3rd and goal from seemingly an eternity away from the end zone. The Seahawks drew up a great play running to the left side of the formation, and got some great blocks from TE Nick Vannett, Charles Cross, and rookie Grey Zabel as Walker did the rest.
Seattle’s defense also quietly held Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers under 200 yards passing. This was a stark difference from what we saw in Week 1.