While the saying “any given Sunday” rings true as any underdog can upset a favored team, there still is an expectation to win the games you are supposed to win. That hasn’t been the case for the Pittsburgh Steelers the last two weeks, falling to the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots, who both boasted a 2-10 record heading into the contest.
Pittsburgh came in as a 6.5-point favorite against the Cardinals in Week 13, ultimately falling 24-10 at home. Pittsburgh was a 6-point favorite against the Patriots on Thursday night, eventually falling 21-18, again at home, just four days later. Josh Edwards of CBS Sports named Pittsburgh’s loss to the Patriots as one of the most surprising results of the 2023 season.
“Pittsburgh had not lost two games in a row this season until dropping consecutive games against teams with two of the worst records in football: Arizona and New England,” Edwards writes. “There has been a bit of smoke and mirrors with this Steelers team all season. Yes, they are over .500 and still amid a playoff race, but the offense has been so bad that it is also easy to write a script where the Steelers lose these types of games.”
The fact that Pittsburgh’s first consecutive losses on the year came to two teams basically eliminated from the playoffs with four weeks left in the season is a real disappointment, especially since this team entered that matchup against the Cardinals with a 7-4 record and in the driver’s seat of clinching a playoff berth. The Steelers didn’t show up and put on the performance necessary to win either game the last two weeks. They looked completely lost on offense as a combination of Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky struggled to get anything going at quarterback. Meanwhile the defense got gashed by two offenses that rank near the bottom of the league, allowing Arizona and New England’s tight ends to have career games.
The Steelers still find themselves in control of a playoff berth after Week 14’s slate, sitting at 7-6 and holding the sixth seed in the AFC. However, the parity in the conference is at its highest point in years as six teams boast a 7-6 record with nearly half of the conference battling for a playoff spot with four games left in the regular season.
The Steelers haven’t played well their last two weeks, and with one of the NFL’s hardest remaining schedules, their playoff hopes will get dashed if they don’t turn things around quickly. They’ll get their shot to get back in the win column on Saturday, facing an Indianapolis Colts squad on the road that is also 7-6 on the season. Securing a big win against a fellow playoff-contending team in the conference would get this team back on track, Pittsburgh needing to close the season out on a high note to qualify for postseason play.
