The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football to kick off Week 4 of the 2026 season in the National Football League. This game had some high stakes surrounding it as it was a divisional matchup, and both teams entered the week with a record of 2-1. Whoever won this game was going to be at the top of the AFC North, and the Steelers came up short as they lost the matchup by a score of 27-24. It was a heartbreaking loss as Pittsburgh came back to tie the game up at 24, but the Browns kicked a game-winning field goal with 10 seconds remaining.
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Cleveland Browns kicker Andre Szmyt (25) kicks the game-winning field goal against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second half at Huntington Bank Field.
There is a ton of blame to go around after this loss in Cleveland. The offense for Pittsburgh went dormant for most of the middle two quarters, while the defense struggled in the first half as the Browns were able to put 21 points on the board in the second quarter alone. There were busted coverages and poor attempts at tackling that were frustrating to watch for fans, but the offense for Cleveland also seemed to be operating at a high level.
Head Coach Mike McCarthy spoke to the media following the loss, and he blamed situational football while also expressing disappointment in his defensive unit when it came to tackling as a member of the local media noticed the defense struggling in that department.
"I would agree, I don't know the number, but we haven't looked, but yes, we did not tackle," McCarthy said. "That was not a positive for sure."
Seeing a defense struggle to finish plays by making tackles is frustrating for fans, especially because a large factor in that is effort. This was a grimy, divisional game being played on a short week, and TJ Watt said before the game that it was going to be about effort. There were several defenders who did not show enough of that in the contest, and that certainly contributed to the loss.
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Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker TJ Watt on the field for warmups before a road game against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football in 2026.
Inside linebacker Patrick Queen was a defender who was called out a ton on social media throughout the contest as he did not have his best performance, but there were players in the secondary that also struggled to come up and make plays against the run. This is going to be something that is harped on throughout the next week and a half as the Steelers have the chance to get some rest before their next contest.
The Browns didn't light up the stat sheet by running the ball, but the lack of tackling showed on conversion downs. Cleveland just had more fight when it came to earning those extra, pivotal yards. That is something the Steelers need to recognize and not allow to happen again.
Steelers Must Fix Tackling Issue Fast
Pittsburgh's next game is not one that the defense can struggle to tackle in. The Steelers will be taking on the Indianapolis Colts in Pittsburgh in Week 5, and while the Colts only have one win, that would be a bad matchup in which to struggle with tackling. Jonathan Taylor is one of the league's best running backs, and he is known for his ability to gain yards after contact. Bringing him down at the first possible chance is going to be a focal point, and it will be very hard to win that game if the defense tackles like it did on Thursday night.
The Steelers also struggled to bring down wide receivers, which could be another issue against the Colts due to the agility and overall shiftiness of wide receiver Josh Downs. Pittsburgh will have next to no chance to beat the Colts without a much-improved effort when it comes to tackling.
What did you think of the tackling on Thursday night? Do you agree with McCarthy? Let me know on X, @brogannoey!
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