The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, losing to a 2-1o squad at home in what was a miserable game to watch both due to the weather delays as well as the product on the field. Pittsburgh’s offense pulled a great disappearing act after topping 400 yards of total offense the previous week against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers struggled once again to get the ball into the end zone while having multiple drives sputter due to lack of execution as well as turnovers in the 24-10 loss. The defense also got exposed as TE Trey McBride abused Pittsburgh’s linebackers in coverage while former Steelers RB James Conner had his best game of the season against his former team, topping 100 yards and two touchdowns in his return to the Steel City.
Former Cardinals CB and current Steeler Patrick Peterson was asked by his cousin and former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden on the All Things Covered podcast if Sunday’s loss to Arizona is the team’s worst of the season.
“I’d probably say the worst loss of the season would probably be, I mean, this was a bad loss as well, but against Cleveland, in my opinion,” Peterson said to McFadden on All Things Covered which aired on the show’s YouTube channel. “This was a bad loss too, but they had their starting quarterback. It was just many more variables in that game versus this game because this game, we obviously, our quarterback end up getting knocked out. Our linebacker getting knocked out. Not making any excuses at all. They beat us. Our guard got knocked out.”
Pittsburgh lost their second meeting against the Cleveland Browns in Week 11 in Cleveland, seeing their offense hit an all-time low against their division rival. RB Jaylen Warren managed to have a strong day at the office with 145 scrimmage yards and a 74-yard touchdown, but the rest of the offense failed to show up, including QB Kenny Pickett. He had his worst game of the season, barely surpassing 100 passing yards. while missing numerous receivers throughout the 13-10 loss.
Pittsburgh also was nearly full strength in that game, having Pickett, LB Elandon Roberts, and LG Isaac Seumalo all available with all three getting hurt against the Cardinals. They didn’t have S Minkah Fitzpatrick against Cleveland, but he did play against the Cardinals despite breaking his hand during the contest.
The Cardinals had their starting quarterback in Kyler Murray whereas the Browns had just lost QB Deshaun Watson for the season with a shoulder injury. The Browns opted to go with rookie QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who was initially third on the depth chart behind P.J. Walker, against the Steelers. Walker had filled in for Watson earlier in the year. Peterson points to Pittsburgh’s injuries against Arizona as his reasoning for Cleveland being a worse loss as the Steelers were undermanned in the middle of the fight compared to having a stronger roster heading into the Dawg Pound.
“We was leaking, man. So, like I said, in the Cleveland game, we were all equipped for that game,” Peterson said. “So it wasn’t like anybody was hurting or anybody wasn’t available for the most part. So, this was a bad loss in my opinion.”
Neither loss was ideal any way you spin it. Pittsburgh could have taken a step toward claiming the AFC North title with a win against Cleveland and likely could have come close to clinching a playoff berth with a win against Arizona. The Cardinals do have a worse record as one of the bottom feeder teams in the league this year, but Pittsburgh made them look varsity with their subpar play, according to head coach Mike Tomlin. Either way, the Steelers can’t afford to linger on these bad losses with the Patriots looming on Thursday night, needing to get back into the win column to keep their playoff hopes alive as they continue down the stretch.
