While many factors played into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ impressive second-half turnaround in 2022, one element that was often cited, even in the locker room, was a players-only meeting during the bye week in which everyone cleared the air and got on the same page.
Following last Sunday’s 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans, there were indications that a meeting would be taking place, with RB Najee Harris leading the way. Brian Batko observed a scene in the locker room with Harris telling Broderick Jones about “getting the whole team together and addressing them as a group”.
Well, something took place, but it wasn’t quite that, according to WR Calvin Austin III. “I wouldn’t say players only, but [there were] definitely some players that voiced how they’ve been feeling”, he said, via the team’s YouTube channel. “I think we’ve been on the same page, but we just got even more on the same page and in-tune with each other”.
The timing is not surprising, frankly. We have been seeing increasingly indications of frustration from the likes of WR George Pickens and C Mason Cole. Then again, you’re going to see those things when you lose by a few touchdowns after winning two games in a row.
Now, I haven’t been in a players-only meeting before, but I’m guessing it doesn’t substantially differ from a similar-purposed meeting with coaches in attendance. Sometimes you just need to get things out in the open.
We are getting into intangible territory here, yet I can’t help but recall how frequently last year’s meeting was cited by players as a catalyst for the second-half turnaround. Trying to quantify how that translates into on-field success is an impossible task.
But I suppose we’ll see if it works. They have an important game on Sunday against the 3-1 Baltimore Ravens, and if they win, they will have control of the AFC North for the time being. Then they will head into their bye week, where the next meeting will probably be just a little bit calmer, but hopefully equally purposeful.
The fact of the matter is that the Steelers have had one of the worst offenses in the National Football League through the first four weeks of the 2023 season. They really struggle to move the football—nobody has fewer first downs—and one pow-wow isn’t going to fix everything.
But camaraderie and communication account for something. That’s why virtually every business of every kind has employee meetings. You have to be sure that everybody is working together in harmony toward the same goal. You have to air frustrations, make suggestions, everything that comes with making a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Because right now, this offense is just spare parts on a scrap heap. And I don’t see it assembling into a sports car overnight.
