New Steelers Offensive Lineman Isaac Seumalo Not Buying That The Offense Has Taken A Step Forward Yet

The Pittsburgh Steelers clawed their way to another victory over the Los Angeles Rams to open the 2023 season 4-2. The 24-17 win on the road wasn't pretty, but after a controversial spot on a fourth and one quarterback sneak by Kenny Pickett that gave Pittsburgh a first down just before the two-minute warning, the team sent out the victory formation, sealing the deal. After gaining just 65 total yards in the first half and scoring once, Pittsburgh's offense found its way in the second half with three rushing touchdowns and 189 yards gained. 

Isaac Seumalo came to the Steelers via free agency during the 2023 offseason from the Philadelphia Eagles, where he won a Super Bowl in 2017 and played in another in 2022. The veteran guard cautioned reading too much into the team's late surge offensively in comments he made to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic after the game on Sunday. 

“Honestly, I think we need to look at those first three quarters. They weren’t very good,” Seumalo said. "In the fourth quarter, we obviously scored some points and stuff. As an offense, we still didn’t play all that well. It is not sustainable to show up in the NFL for one quarter and will ourselves to a win. We have to have complete games if we want to be a good offense.” 

Steelers second-year receiver George Pickens also cautioned against calling the performance by the group against the Rams a "breakthrough." He did complement the unit's play in the second half, saying that it "can get no better than that when the guys all come together." Seumalo also relented, saying that the final frame was a "heck of a quarter, and we needed it." 

It was by no means a good performance offensively for Pittsburgh, as Seumalo said, but there were some positive takeaways, especially from the all-important second-half surge.

Steelers Offense Making Strides, Even If It's Not A Breakout

The offense needs to start better, and that's no secret. Through six games, their opening drives have yielded four punts and a pair of interceptions. They have just one touchdown in the first quarter, which came on a long bomb by Pickett to Calvin Austin III against the Las Vegas Raiders. A big part of turning in a successful season in a tough AFC North will be finding a way to start better offensively. As Seumalo said, the team has yet to have a full game where they perform from start to finish. Figuring out a better way to start games will be key to having some more complete games. 

While Seumalo is taking the glass-half-empty look after the Rams game, there were plenty of positives from that second half that the glass-half-full crowd can point toward as incremental improvement. Pittsburgh didn't have a rushing touchdown through five weeks of play. Pickett ended that streak early in the third quarter. After TJ Watt secured an interception off Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford on the opening play of the second half and returned it 24 yards into Rams territory, Pittsburgh ran two plays to Najee Harris before Pickett plunged into the endzone on a quarterback sneak. 

Jaylen Warren was next to end his no-score drought. After the Rams missed a 51-yard field goal try, the Steelers pushed the ball down to the red zone, and Warren scampered 13 yards untouched into the endzone. Harris also got in on the rush to pay dirt in the fourth quarter. After driving from their own 17-yard line, a short catch and run by Connor Heyward set the offense up on the Rams' three-yard line. Harris found an open gap and leaped into the end zone. 

Pittsburgh entered the game with a rough 2/7 record in the red zone. The three aforementioned runs helped the team finish a perfect 3/3 on the day. 

Even if it wasn't the complete effort needed to win games sustainably, according to Seumalo, the offense did enough to win again and continued to show signs that as a unit they're trending in the right direction. 

Did you think this was a breakout game? How would you fix the slow starts?