Steelers offense looks as bad as ever, and everyone is to blame

The Pittsburgh Steelers defense has a solid day for itself on Sunday.

It allowed just 13 points to the New England Patriots, forced two fumbles, created two takeaways and sacked quarterback Drake Maye three times. 

There were some flaws, and it was far from perfect, but it was certainly good enough to win.

The problem is the Steelers offense was so bad, so helpless, and so downright abysmal that the Steelers not only lost; they lost by 17 points in a 20-3 decision that had an exclamation point put on it with a Patriots defensive touchdown early in the fourth quarter. 

New head coach Mike McCarthy was supposed to bring the Steelers offense into the 21st century and make it something respectable. Two weeks into the season, he has not only failed to do so, but it looks even worse in some ways.

Nobody on that side of the ball gets to escape blame.

Steelers offense looks just as bad as ever

Two weeks into the season, the Steelers offense has generated just a single touchdown (which came off of a short field in Week 1 following a takeaway by the defense) and has looked incapable of putting together extended drives. 

The big excuse in Week 1 was that they had opportunities, but some missed penalty calls and dropped passes slowed them down.

To a point, that was correct. But it still shouldn't be something you use as a crutch when your offense plays poorly over a 60-minute game. Especially when dropped passes are a potential flaw itself with the offense and the players you have on it. 

The drops became an issue again on Sunday as wide receiver DK Metcalf again struggled to hold on to the football, dropping two more passes, including what should have been an easy pitch-and-catch completion on a third-down when the game was still in doubt. 

Rookie Germie Bernard also had a pass bounce off of his hands for an interception late in the fourth quarter. 

But the problems go far beyond just an occasional drop.

The performance of the offensive line was appalling for the second week in a row, not only failing to open rushing lanes for the running backs, but also proving incapable of giving quarterback Aaron Rodgers time to throw.