The AFC’s quarterback and rushing storylines kept circling back to one theme this week: execution. In Cleveland, Deshaun Watson said the Browns’ win over the Buccaneers was about trusting the plan and trusting the man calling it.
In Baltimore, Derrick Henry made it clear he’s not focused on his carry count so much as the result. And in Pittsburgh, the Steelers were left staring at another offensive dud after a 20-3 loss to the Patriots.
Watson framed his comments around patience and belief, while also giving credit to HC Todd Monken for the way the game was called. “I leave my journey in God’s hands, keep working hard and keep pushing forward, and let the outcome be the outcome,” Watson said, via BrownsWire.com.
“I told Monk at halftime just to trust me with the ball in my hands and let me go out there and operate. Let him scheme it up, call the plays, and I’m going to trust his mindset.
Let’s go execute.”
Henry’s message after the Ravens’ most recent matchup was more blunt. He said the offense, and the team as a whole, simply didn’t do enough in the second half.
“We just weren’t good enough in the second half to win this game,” Henry said, via the Baltimore Sun. “We were put in a position to win this game.
We just have to be better. We just weren’t good enough - at all.”
Ravens HC Jesse Minter echoed that the solution has to go beyond Henry himself. “Derrick was definitely himself,” Minter added.
“This team is going to have a lead [again],” Minter said. “We are going to continue to chase and learn from what happened in those situations.
We will get better and put our guys in the best position to be successful given the circumstances.”
Pittsburgh’s offensive problems were a different kind of frustration. The Steelers managed just 235 yards in their loss to New England, and LT Troy Fautanu said the whole unit felt stuck.
“It’s frustrating, just all around as an offense,” Fautanu said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “We couldn’t really get anything going, and when we did, we just couldn’t convert; we just couldn’t score.”
Fautanu pointed to the Patriots’ variety up front as a major challenge, but he also made it clear the Steelers have to handle those looks better. “ They were giving us different looks, different pressures, different stunts,” Fautanu said.
“Obviously, the coaches go over it during the week. We’ve got to be able to go out there and execute and block our men regardless of if we’re one-on-one.
We’ve just got to do a better job.”
Steelers HC Mike McCarthy said the protection wasn’t steady enough, leaving the offense short of the standard it needed to meet.
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