A crushing 20-3 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday had Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike McCarthy looking completely deflated on the podium. This wasn’t some minor bump, folks, McCarthy immediately threw himself under the bus with a frustrated, “Offensively, clearly not good enough, And that starts with me.” He clearly felt the continued offensive struggles after another tough week.
“Detail is Not There”: McCarthy Takes the Blame
McCarthy didn’t pull any punches about what went wrong. He openly admitted feeling the issues brewing in practice all week, even mentioning Wednesday and Thursday. “Felt we were real herky jerky in the run and pass,” he explained. “We didn’t answer the bell. Our protections were not clean.” He called out the lack of “detail,” straight up saying, “And that’s on coaching. Starts with me; I’m calling the offense. I have to get the detail better.” He even dared the media, “If you need someone, fire away, because I felt it on Wednesday and Thursday. I’m a veteran coach and I know better. And I didn’t do a good job.” That’s a gut punch from your own coach! While it’s only two weeks into the season, McCarthy isn’t looking to shake up personnel just yet, but he made it clear: if they’re making the “same mistakes” week after week, whether it’s a rookie or a seasoned pro, those issues need fixing.
Cutting the “Volume” and Protecting Aaron Rodgers
One key takeaway from McCarthy’s postgame analysis was his talk about “volume.” He’s looking to simplify things, simply. “If it’s not clean, you have to cut the volume down,” he stated, admitting, “And we’re not clean on offense, so the volume is getting cut down. So that’s the first starting point and that’s my fault because I felt it early in the week.” As the first year with this staff and these players, McCarthy emphasized nailing the fundamentals before trying to get too fancy. “The basics weren’t there,” he confessed. He completely shifted the blame off quarterback Aaron Rodgers, saying, “We got a quarterback who can play at any volume of game plan, but at the end of the day it’s a team game, and we have to give Aaron Rodgers better platforms to throw off of.” The philosophy? They don’t want to “dink and dunk.” They need to “attempt to get the ball thrown downfield” and find those explosive plays.
Defense Fights, Offense Falters: What’s Next?
It wasn’t all gloom and doom, at least not from the defense. They actually played well enough for Pittsburgh to win, holding the Patriots to just 13 points on offense. McCarthy said it himself: “Defense played well enough to win the game , you hold them to 13 points (on offense), I expect us to win every game we line up in.” But even that wasn’t enough, as the Steelers couldn’t hang on through the fourth quarter. The offense clearly needs a major overhaul in execution and finding those big plays. McCarthy’s honesty is refreshing, but now the heat is on him and his staff to deliver on those promised fundamental improvements. The early season is a time for adjustments, and the Steelers definitely have a lot to make.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Behind the Steel Curtain.
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