The Pittsburgh Steelers have (unofficially) qualified for the playoffs, apparently, because that’s what everybody in the locker room is talking about. For everyone who’s been asked about it, they all acknowledge that the final four games of the regular season already rise to that level of significance given their implications.
“Yeah, it’s a playoff game in my eyes”, veteran S Minkah Fitzpatrick told reporters yesterday, via the team’s website. “It’s a game that if we win, it boosts our chances to get into the playoffs by a lot, and if we lose, it takes us pretty much out of the playoffs. So to me it’s a playoff game”.
Yet asked if he believes that others in the locker room have an appropriate level of understanding about what’s at stake entering the final four weeks of the regular season, he gave a telling response. “I hope they do”, he said.
Generally speaking, you would hope that one of your most important figures in the locker room would be able to express confidence in his teammates. It doesn’t appear as though he feels he has been given sufficient reason in recent weeks to feel that level of confidence, even when speaking to the media about it.
This comes on the heels of one of the more embarrassing weeks in recent franchise history, during which the Steelers became the first team in NFL history to lost to two teams with a record eight games under .500 or worse while having a winning record themselves.
Following their losses to the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots in a five-game span, a number of players, including WR Diontae Johnson, RB Jaylen Warren, and of course Fitzpatrick himself all questioned whether they had taken their opponents seriously enough.
It’s as though they are shifting from preseason mode to postseason mode, now that their backs are against the wall. Perhaps some players felt they could take things a bit easier against the likes of the Cardinals and Patriots, each of whom only had two wins before encountering them. But now that any loss could be detrimental to their playoff hopes, they cannot afford to take anybody lightly.
Fitzpatrick’s criticism of the team went deeper than that. He accused some of his teammates of having an entitled attitude, expecting that just because they are with an organization like the Steelers, the wins are simply going to come to them without putting in the work required to earn them.
In light of those remarks, it’s no surprise that he continues to cast doubt on just where the locker room is emotionally and mentally. Do they sufficiently understand the stakes heading into Saturday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts? Are they going to look past a team playing with a backup quarterback, without a ton of recognizable names? The proof will be in the pudding.
