Following the San Francisco 49ers’ 30-7 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Steelers, coach Mike Tomlin wasn’t mincing words.You can’t start games 0-5 on third down and expect to have the kind of day you want, according to Tomlin. “Man, it takes more than simply finding that component to win the heavier downs. In every way, it was a failure on our end. We must play better and coach better.
We “… got kicked in the teeth today in a lot of different ways.”
The 49ers (1-0) converted on 6 of 13 third downs while the Steelers (0-1) only converted on 5 of 15. Less than two minutes remained in the first half before the Steelers even gained a first down. The Steelers lost the fight for time of possession 37:23 to 22:37, and the offence struggled to get going and develop a ground game due to a lack of plays, particularly in the first half.QB Kenny Pickett admitted, “Honestly, we just didn’t execute.” “I believe we contributed more than they did. What I was observing and what they were doing seemed familiar to me. We simply didn’t perform.
This underperformance was fairly unexpected given that the Steelers’ starting offence scored touchdowns on each of their first five preseason possessions. The Steelers had one net yard, no first downs, four punts and an interception over the first five possessions they had against the 49ers.The second-year quarterback offered an explanation for the offensive disparity between the preseason and regular season: “I think San Fran’s starting defence is a little bit better than some teams in the preseason we played,” he said. They are a terrific squad, but ultimately we didn’t perform anything close to the level that we needed or wanted to.
Just before halftime, Pickett, who completed 31 of 46 passes for 232 yards, had his greatest two-minute offence play when he directed a 95-yard drive that resulted in a Pat Freiermuth touchdown grab from three yards out.But Pickett threw two interceptions after showing solid judgement and accuracy during the preseason and training camp. He was fired five times as well. Not only were several of Pickett’s throws mistargeted, but he also frequently failed to communicate effectively with his receivers. Pickett and Freiermuth miscommunicated on a fourth-down throw to the end zone in the second half, ending a potential drive despite all the preseason discussion about offensive togetherness.
That does occur, Pickett said. Pat just saw one thing. I had a different perspective. It has to be fixed, but we’ll get it right because you obviously put a lot of work into it. That doesn’t worry me at all. I’m concerned about us sticking together, playing balanced football, and being able to accomplish the goals we worked so hard to achieve.
In anticipation of Monday night’s matchup against division foe Cleveland, running back Najee Harris, who finished with 31 yards on six attempts, had the same optimism as his quarterback about the team’s potential to bounce back from this setback.
Harris said, “We still have 16 games.” We aren’t flinching. It’s an element of the game. You’re going to have some wins and some losses. What matters most is how you’re going to win that game the following week when you return. We are here, and we are still anticipating this year.