My Observations and Thoughts from Last night and the season as a whole thus far

Jayden has struggled to find his rythm this season thus far. It was evident in the first couple of games, and in the 2 since returning from injury. I am not in the least bit worried about it though. He played minimally in the preseason which helps to explain the early season rust and he is playing without 7 of the 9 players who caught more than 100 yards last year (Ertz and McCaffrey being the ones remaining). Alarm rank - None

Deebo was a non factor last night, most likely due to his heel/ankle injury. I suspect the team had him play because there was little risk of further injury but he simply wasnt effective due to it. Alarm rank - None

Bill fumbled again. I want to chalk this fumble up to being because the ball was a bit slick, but I do have some concerns. I am not in the least bit out on him. Tony Dorsett, Walter Payton, and Thurmon Thomas all had fumble issues early on and were able to correct it and become HOFers. I am not saying Bill is headed to the Hall (certainly not after 6 games) but he can figure it out. Alarm rank - Low

Run Defense - I am not concerned at all with the up the middle run defense. In general, I think we are stopping the ball relatively consistently with A and B gap runs. We are getting gashed on C and D gap runs. The losses of Wise and Harris are a huge part of that, with not having Jean-Baptiste and Goldman compounding that. Alarm rank - High

Pass Defense - I thought the pass defense played relatively well last night, but they have been very up and down all season. Though the last 2 week have been far more consistent. They were able to provide decent pressure, did not have many penalties. I am not happy with the scheming that leaves Bobby Wagner in coverage on crossing routes still. I complained about this after ATL and I will complain about it again and again. He is not a good pass defender, never has been. He is a downhill tackler and a very good one. Leave him at that. Alarm rank - Medium (though next week will be truly telling)

Turnovers forced - Our team does not force turnovers. We are 3rd to last in turnovers forced ahead of the Packers and the Jets. We are 25th in turnover differential while only being 15th in giveaways. Mikey has 2 of our 3 turnovers. He does have several other near picks, which is good. Alarm rank - High

Lack of tackling - Other than Bobby Wagner, I dont trust anyone on this defense to make a tackle consistently. They are constantly whiffing at tackles, attempting (and failing as indicated above) at forcing fumbles rather than wrapping, or trying to put big hits rather than fundamental wrap and drive tackling. This has lead to more big plays than blow coverages (this is anecdotal not backed by research). Alarm rank - Off the charts blazing

Special Teams minus kicking - This has been by far our bright spot of the season. Luke McCaffery is a kick return beast consistently putting us in good staring field position. Jalen Lane (when our defense actually stops the other team to make them punt) is a threat. He doesnt always get the best returns, but he is always a threat to break one and has had several good returns besides his TD. AND he hasnt put one on the turf yet (knock on wood). The block team blocked a FG yesterday, cant complain about that. Finally, Tress Way does what he does and does it well. Alarm rank - None

Kicking - Matt Gay has been good at times, he has been bad at times. I dont know if the miss yesterday was due to a slick ball or what, but it could have been the difference in the game. I dont blame him for the loss, that was on the turnovers. In fact, I dont blame any of his misses for any of our losses, but he is not consistent. Is there a better option out there? I dont know. I am tired of the revolving door at kicker though. We have had 14 kickers in the last 20 years. Chris Boswell has kicked for the Steelers for the last 10 years alone, why cant we find a guy like that? Alarm rank - Medium (but warming up)