It was a day filled with highs and lows for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They took the field in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers hoping for a good debut from safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was acquired a few days prior via trade with the Miami Dolphins.

They got that in spades, and although they couldn't pull out the win in a 24-20 nailbiter at Levi's Stadium on Sunday, the team has to be all smiles knowing what adding Fitzpatrick can do for their defense. For his part, the 22-year-old looked as if he'd been with the Steelers all training camp and not only a few days ahead of their Week 3 contest, and he's obviously pleased with his performance -- tempered with the sting of a loss he feels could've easily gone the other way.

"I felt good," he said following the game, via Steelers.com. "As a defense, we communicated very well. We played fast. We got a lot of turnovers.

"We were just two or three plays away. We got a bad call on third down and, honestly, there were a couple of other plays that we could've played better on. Overall, I think we're in a good spot. We're gonna go out there next week -- get a win, and just learn from this week and keep moving forward."

The team had five takeaways on the day and Fitzpatrick was responsible for two of them, landing an interception he'd go on to return for 14 yards along with a forced fumble.

"How many did we have? We had five? Dang, it is usually the team that wins the turnover battle that wins," he said. "But there are other things that play into it, like third down and big plays -- stuff like that."

It was the goal of Mike Tomlin and staff to not overcomplicate things for the former first-round pick leading into his debut with the team, considering there wasn't a ton of time to prep him for it. The formula worked out well for them on that front, and they'll likely ramp things up beginning as early as Week 4 in preparation for the rival Cincinnati Bengals.

"The [coaching staff kept the game plan simple for me] for the most part," Fitzpatrick said. "It allowed me to go out there and play fast and play my game of football."

His game of football is why he was the 11th-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and why the Steelers felt comfortable giving up a first-round pick to have him in Pittsburgh. If the offense -- now led by quarterback Mason Rudolph -- can figure out how to match serve with Fitzpatrick and a takeaway-ready defense on Sept. 30, they might finally find themselves notching one in the win column in 2019.