When the final whistle blew sometime after midnight Monday morning, Pittsburgh Steelers fans were left grasping at straws. The Steelers had forced three turnovers and had only allowed one touchdown on four red zone trips by the Dallas Cowboys. Yet the scoreboard was 20-17 in favor of the Cowboys.
The Steelers were one play away from a 4-1 record. Instead, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott found WR Jaylen Tolbert in the front of the end zone on fourth down with seconds left. Now the Steelers have dropped two straight, and 3-0 seems so long ago. How does Pittsburgh bounce back and get back on track?
“Don’t change what we’ve been doing from a mentality standpoint,” said LB Elandon Roberts during his weekly Tuesday night show on 93.7 The Fan. “‘Cause we have the right mentality, you know what I’m saying? We just been doing some things that maybe be kicking our own self in the butt. So let’s just clean it up, get back on the right track and whatnot, and start back moving in the right direction. Because, like I said, we fixing to get on the road for travel to Vegas, and it’s a great opponent that we are fixing to play.”
Self-inflicted wounds have been a common theme this week. TE Pat Freiermuth referenced the offense hurting itself early in games. Those slow starts have put the Steelers in a hole the last two weeks. While QB Justin Fields has helped the team claw its way back into contention, it’s no coincidence the Steelers have lost both of those games.
It’s not just issues on the offensive side of the ball, either. The Steelers’ defense has shown some serious cracks in the last two weeks. The Steelers got down big early against the Indianapolis Colts. The defense did get three turnovers versus the Cowboys but allowed their offense to convert nine of their 15 third-down opportunities, plus one fourth-down opportunity at the end of the game.
Head coach Mike Tomlin said the defense’s communication was not where it needed to be versus the Cowboys. That could certainly explain the big plays and conversions allowed.
However, the one thing in common is the belief that those are fixable problems. It’s up to the players and coaches to pull it together, though. And Roberts thinks the players need to look deeply at themselves.
“Now we’re going to test the type of guys that we done built this team with,” Roberts said. “The type of person that even myself is through adversity. How are you going to react? Are you gonna start kind of ducking the smoke? Or are you going to get in that fire with it?”
The Steelers are still 3-2. Some teams are in far worse spots than they are, but the results are trending completely the wrong way. Plenty of smoke is enveloping Pittsburgh, and where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Even though the Steelers are going on the road, the Las Vegas Raiders are a good opponent for the situation. DT Christian Wilkins is out indefinitely and will likely be going on injured reserve. They’re experiencing their own quarterback issues with Gardner Minshew and Aiden O’Connell. And star WR Davante Adams wants out (and the Steelers seem to be calling around).
But the Steelers are in no position to be looking past the Raiders. People have been picking the Steelers for the last two weeks, and we have seen how that went. They cannot afford to get ahead of themselves, especially after two close losses. And if everyone is like Roberts, they know they can’t overlook anyone.
“We took two jabs to the face,” Roberts said. “But now, it’s time for us to start throwing back our haymakers and stuff and get back on the right track.”
Roberts threw a haymaker against the Cowboys, and it almost won them the game. Hopefully, for the Steelers, he won’t be the only one selling out to make the necessary plays against the Raiders.
