Although the Pittsburgh Steelers have flaws, it’s been surprising to see how far their defense has fallen over the past few weeks. What was once their greatest strength has become a mess. Players haven’t been on the same page, routine tackles have not been made routinely, and the results have been poor. Cam Heyward recently spoke about what he believes the problem has been.
“Mike [Tomlin] always says, ‘It’s like popcorn. It’s a little bit here, a little bit there,'” Heyward said Tuesday via the team’s YouTube channel. “I think sometimes guys were overplaying situations. Sometimes, there’d be a check where not everybody got it. Sometimes, just alignment alone puts you in that type of tough situation. But hopefully, we cleaned it up. A lot of good conversations, but we won’t know until Sunday.”
Heyward is probably correct that the Steelers’ defense has been worse due to multiple factors. It’s tough for one thing to make such a great unit play so poorly. However, that doesn’t really help the Steelers. Dealing with so many issues at this point in the year might actually be worse.
Multiple players have floated the idea of some defenders overplaying situations. When things were desperate, it sounded like some players were trying to be heroes rather than just doing their job. It’s hard to fault someone for wanting to make a play, but all 11 guys must be on the same page.
Communication has arguably been their greatest weakness. For whatever reason, the Steelers have been letting opposing players run around wide-open for weeks. This late in the year, that shouldn’t be happening.
It does sound like the Steelers are hopeful that they’ve patched a lot of their leaks. No one seemed happy about how the team was playing. Losing three straight games and dropping the division crown at the finish line will do that. Their season isn’t over yet, though.
If the Steelers come out and play well against the Bengals, they could turn things around. The Bengals’ offense does not lack firepower. If the Steelers’ defense can at least look competitive, they should feel better about themselves going into the playoffs. These are not issues they want to be still trying to fix in the postseason.
