At one point, you could say that Adam Schein of CBS Sports and NFL.com was one of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ staunchest supporters in the media landscape. After all, it was only a month ago that Schein guaranteed that the Steelers would make the playoffs.
However, the inexplicable 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals this past Sunday seems to have removed any shine Schein still had toward the Steelers. On Tuesday, Schein published his Schein Nine article on NFL.com, looking at playoff bubble teams he loves, likes, and loathes. While you might have expected that the Steelers would have been in at least the ‘Like’ category if not the ‘Love,’ they were not. Instead, they found themselves in the lowest category.
“This team bugs me,” Schein wrote. “Kenny Pickett is hurt now, but even when he was healthy, he was not making the Year Two leap many envisioned in August. And you can’t blame Matt Canada anymore, as the offensive coordinator was fired back in November. Truthfully, the Steelers are lucky to even be 7-5. After all, they’ve been outscored by 37 points on the season. Now it feels like all the luck has run out.”
The Steelers are still in the thick of the playoff race. Anything can happen over the final weeks of the season, especially with the rash of injuries to quarterbacks in the AFC. Yes, Pickett is hurt, but it’s not the same as with teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars missing Trevor Lawrence or the New York Jets without Aaron Rodgers. However, a result like Sunday’s is going to be deflating no matter who is under center. Then there are the concerns voiced by players like RB Jaylen Warren and WR Diontae Johnson about taking the Cardinals too lightly.
“Pittsburgh just suffered a 14-point home loss to lowly Arizona,” Schein wrote. “Running back Jaylen Warren says the Steelers took the Cardinals too lightly. How does this team take anyone too lightly? Pittsburgh was outgained in each of the first ten games of the freakin’ season?”
The Steelers are supposed to be a franchise that competes for championships. True contenders should be able to dispose of a two-win team like the Cardinals were before Sunday’s game. Evidently, the Steelers aren’t even close to contention at this point.
Even the defense that’s been so good at points this season was a letdown Sunday. They couldn’t stop former teammate RB James Conner who had 105 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. They couldn’t stop TE Trey McBride, who had 89 catches and a touchdown on eight catches (and nine targets.) Now that’s not to say that the defense was the reason the Steelers lost on Sunday, but it certainly wasn’t the reason they won throughout the rest of the season.
“The T.J. Watt-led defense is good, but not special — at least not special enough to overcome a seriously flawed offense,” Schein wrote. “The Steelers are not consistent, fun to watch or trustworthy. I’m out.”
There is still time for the Steelers to scrape together some hard-fought victories down the stretch and make it into the playoffs. However, they cannot afford to take anyone lightly, and that starts with another two-win team when they take on the New England Patriots on Thursday. They will also be trying to win games with QB Mitchell Trubisky under center, as Pickett will be sidelined for at least a little while after having tightrope surgery on his ankle.
It’s a bleak picture of the Steelers’ future this season, and Schein is out on that.
