Losing to 2-10 teams in back-to-back games can be demoralizing for any NFL team. It’s especially demoralizing for a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers. A week ago, they were 7-4 and right in the thick of things in the AFC race for the playoffs, having one of the NFL’s easiest schedules down the stretch and just needing to take care of business at home against the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots to potentially lock up a spot in the playoffs.
That didn’t occur as Pittsburgh lost both games in a span of five days, making NFL history by becoming the first team in NFL history to lose back-to-back games to teams that were at least eight games under .500. That’s not a team that comes off as a legit playoff contender, let alone meets the standard of a historic franchise that is used to being in the playoffs on a yearly basis and contending for Super Bowl championships.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith spoke about the Steelers and their loss to the Patriots on First Take Friday morning, stating that the culture of this team is not what it used to be as the once-proud Steelers look like a shell of their former selves under the watchful eye of head coach Mike Tomlin.
“If you’re watching this team, you’re going like this, ‘This offense is trash. We gotta come out here… we can’t afford to make any damn mistakes because they’re not going to do anything to help us,'” Smith said from the defense’s perspective on First Take. “And that’s what I think is going on. Demoralization has kicked in like a virus, and it’s contaminated this franchise. And I think that is what we’re seeing right now from these Pittsburgh Steelers.”
S Minkah Fitzpatrick expressed a similar sentiment in the locker room following the loss, stating that players are showing up thinking that they are going to make plays without putting the work in to make those results happen on the football field. Tomlin mentioned in his press conference following the game that they will get this ship turned around because “that’s what we do” as the Steelers. Given his results this season as well as in recent memory nobody is buying this.
The fact of the matter is that Pittsburgh has become a demoralized franchise. The offense has failed to progress over the course of the season, looking even worse with QB Mitch Trubisky under center than QB Kenny Pickett, who hasn’t been even average this season. The Steelers got rid of OC Matt Canada a few weeks ago, but the issues on offense continue to pile up. This has only placed more pressure on the defense to go play flawless football, a difficult task given the number of injuries that unit is dealing with.
Still, the defense allowed the Patriots to look like the Kansas City Chiefs to start the game, giving up three touchdowns within the first quarter-and-a-half of play. The eventually got locked in, but not after they spotted New England a 21-3 lead, which ended up being too great of a deficit to overcome.
Last night showed us a Steelers team that looked like its will had been broken despite being the fifth seed in the playoffs heading into the game. Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit said multiple times throughout the game that Pittsburgh was lacking that fire and sense of urgency as a team right in the thick of things in the AFC compared to the Patriots, who have been all but eliminated from contention but managed to play hard and once again be a thorn in Pittsburgh’s side. Something must change going forward if this team is going to rebound and somehow make the postseason, and it all starts with confidence and self-belief. That starts with Tomlin and the message that he is delivering to his team. It’s also on the players to believe it and take it to heart as a team that has the pieces in place to be much better than it has been showing us on the field.
