The Pittsburgh Steelers were humiliated at home, losing 24-10 to the Arizona Cardinals, who entered the game 2-10 on the season. This was following a week of optimism surrounding the Steelers after their first 400-yard offensive performance in years. The schedule looked ripe for stacking wins and the Steelers promptly lost to a team they probably should have beaten.
Up next, they will get another shot at a 2-10 team in the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football. Alex Highsmith spoke to the media during Monday’s open locker room about the loss on Sunday and the need to right the ship on Thursday.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Highsmith said in a clip posted by 93.7 The Fan on X. “Losing the way we did on our home turf, and then it’s a short week, so we gotta flush that and get going on the Patriots. So we’ve already started watching film and getting ready for those guys. So we just gotta bounce back this week and make a statement on Thursday.”
This is the second Thursday Night Football game for the Steelers this season. The first was in Week Nine against the Tennessee Titans. The Steelers were tasked with bouncing back from a 20-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on a short week and responded well with a win over the Titans.
In a lot of ways, the Steelers’ loss to the Cardinals was one of the worst in the team’s history. The need for a bounce-back game goes without saying. To Highsmith’s point, they had better “make a statement” to help flush the flat performance from Sunday. The only issue is that the Steelers will be without QB Kenny Pickett due to an ankle injury, and possibly their defensive quarterback ILB Elandon Roberts because of a groin injury.
The Patriots’ defense has been among the most stingy in the league the last few weeks. They have allowed 10 or less points in three straight games, though they lost all three. So far, the 400-yard performance against the Cincinnati Bengals a week ago is the exception, not the rule. The Steelers failed to build off that success against the Cardinals and are right back in the boat of needing to prove that they can sustain success on offense. The Patriots pose a lot of problems in that regard.
