It wasn’t so long ago that there was a glow surrounding Steeler Nation. All of a sudden, a cloud had lifted, a northern wind from Canada had blown the darkness out of the city, and there was finally hope for the future.
The Steelers scored a whopping 16 points against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 26, but they sure looked good doing it, and the point is it was enough for them to win. They put up over 400 yards of offense, the only downfall being their execution in the red zone. That would be the next step.
Who knows how many steps are left now after two dismal losses in a five-day span. After getting blown out by the 2-10 Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, they choked last night against the 2-10 New England Patriots, whose 21 first-half points—more than they scored in any full game all season—proved enough for the victory. Having begun the week at 7-4 and positioned to make a spirited run at a division title, they let a golden opportunity slip away.
“With both hands”, TE Connor Heyward said after the game, via the team’s website. “Yeah, it’s a big one”, added TE Pat Freiermuth, whose return was seen as one of the biggest sources for optimism. “Big two losses. But we have to move past it this weekend and keep going”.
Not that they have any other choice. Being mad about the losses isn’t about to turn them into wins. The reality is that the Steelers are now a 7-6 team on the outside looking in on the playoff race, and suddenly are teetering with a .500 record.
And the past two games were seen, justifiably, as the easiest left on their schedule. Both games were against two-win teams and at home. Granted, the Steelers lost QB Kenny Pickett in the first half of that first game, and perhaps that’s being ignored a little too much in evaluating their overall performance. But the facts are the facts: it doesn’t get any easier.
“Everybody in the National Football League’s good. We know that, and you can’t take anybody lightly. Not saying we did”, Heyward said about dropping the past two games. “But hats off to Arizona, hats off to the Patriots. We’ve just got to go in tomorrow on the drawing board and get better”.
The Steelers’ next game will be next Saturday in Indianapolis against a Colts team that has already figured out how to keep things going after starting QB Anthony Richardson’s season-ending injury. They are now 7-5, ahead of Pittsburgh in the standings, and winners of four in a row.
Frankly, a loss to the Colts alone might be enough to finish off any pretensions the Steelers might have about success this season. If they fall to 7-7, they could already be two games out of even the seventh seed, still with games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks, and the Baltimore Ravens left to play. These were supposed to be the “easy” ones.
