Steelers' Week 1 Win Exposes Brutal Problem That Can't Wait

The Pittsburgh Steelers survived their opener with the result they wanted, but Sunday also produced enough sloppy details to keep the coaching staff from enjoying the film for very long. Some mistakes can be tolerated while a new staff and changing roster settle into the season. Others have a nasty habit of turning a close game in the wrong direction before anyone gets the chance to call them growing pains.

Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman was particularly dissatisfied with Pittsburgh's kickoff coverage following the 20-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. During his Monday media availability, Crossman identified assignment errors and missed tackles as the primary issues while acknowledging that a unit still developing chemistry can look uneven early in a season.

“It wasn’t as good as we need to be. We had some misfits from a couple of people and, you know, we missed a couple tackles… I think early in the year, until you get a little bit better continuity and guys playing off of one another, I think some of those things are going to happen. But, you know, you don’t have time to—you got to get them cleaned up… Biggest thing was when we’re in position, we got to tackle,” Crossman said.

That last part eliminates the easiest excuse Pittsburgh could make for itself. Continuity can help explain an assignment mistake. Special-teams units are assembled from players scattered across the offensive and defensive depth charts, many of whom spent the summer competing for roster spots before the final group was even established. One player fitting a lane differently than the teammate beside him can create open grass quickly when everyone is sprinting in the same direction. Getting into position and failing to finish the tackle is different.

Coverage units exist to turn a kickoff into controlled field position. Once a Steelers defender defeats the initial blocking picture and reaches the returner, the complicated portion of the assignment is mostly over. Missing at that point can erase several good reps from teammates and hand an opposing offense field position it did nothing to earn.

That makes Crossman's frustration understandable after a game Pittsburgh won by only seven points. The Steelers' defense created two interceptions, TJ Watt supplied a touchdown himself and Atlanta still remained within one possession during the fourth quarter. Hidden yards become considerably less hidden when a game lives in that range.

Pittsburgh also entered the season expecting special teams to be a legitimate strength. The organization invested a fourth-round pick in Kaden Wetjen largely because of his return ability and kept Eli Heidenreich partly because he could contribute across multiple kicking-game phases. Crossman has spent months emphasizing that those jobs are not auxiliary responsibilities. They determine who dresses on Sunday and, occasionally, where the offense or defense begins its next possession. That is why Week 1 was such a mixed introduction.

The Steelers already had one major special-teams communication breakdown when their attempted 62-yard field goal fell apart before halftime. Crossman's unit then left the opener with additional corrections waiting in kickoff coverage. Neither mistake cost Pittsburgh the game, but relying on the rest of the roster to continuously erase those errors is not much of a long-term plan.

There is some legitimacy to Crossman's point about continuity. Special teams relies heavily on players understanding how the person beside them will react. A coverage player cannot simply sprint toward the football with no concern for leverage. If one teammate spills the return one direction, somebody else needs to know where that forces the ball and close the remaining escape route. Those relationships improve with repetition.

The problem is that Pittsburgh does not receive several practice games before the results begin mattering. Week 1 already counted, and every kickoff against New England will count exactly the same. Crossman cannot wait until October for the coverage unit to collectively discover how everyone fits together.

His emphasis on tackling provides the quickest route toward improvement because it requires far less chemistry. A player can misunderstand how a lane develops and still recover by finishing once he gets to the football. Being correctly positioned only to let the returner escape compounds one mistake with another.

Pittsburgh built its roster with enough young, athletic players to believe speed should not be the issue. Heidenreich arrived with experience across all four special-teams phases at Navy. Wetjen was one of college football's most dangerous return specialists. The Steelers have linebackers and defensive backs whose easiest route toward weekly playing time runs directly through Crossman's units. The expectation is therefore higher than simply surviving the kicking game without disaster.

Steelers Cannot Keep Donating Hidden Yards

Crossman's comments are not an early-season panic button. One game is too small a sample to decide Pittsburgh has a permanent kickoff-coverage problem, especially when a new special-teams coordinator is combining players who are still learning one another. It is an early warning.

The Steelers won their opener despite an uneven offensive performance, a bizarre field-goal sequence and coverage mistakes that Crossman immediately identified afterward. There will be Sundays when the margin is thinner and the defense does not provide enough splash plays to make every other error survivable. That is when one missed tackle on a kickoff stops feeling like a minor special-teams detail.

Pittsburgh can reasonably expect the communication and spacing to improve as the unit accumulates snaps together. Crossman made it equally clear that the schedule will not politely wait for that process to finish.

The Steelers have time to become more cohesive. They do not have time to keep missing the returner once they get there.

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