The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense looked no better even with SS DeShon Elliott back on the field. In a 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that was riddled with the same mistakes of miscommunication and star players being left wide open, Elliott didn’t hold back on the root problems.
“First off, guys can’t be fucking wide open,” Elliott said via the Trib’s Chris Adamski. “That’s the first. Do you job, you know? I thought we communicated. Guys just weren’t doing their fricking job. So get back to the drawing board. It’s Week 18. Shouldn’t be having these problems in Week 18. This is a Week 1, Week 2 problem.”
Pittsburgh nearly allowed another 400-yard performance, which would’ve been its third-straight. Kansas City finished with 389 and had the game been more competitive instead of the Chiefs simply choosing to run clock on their final possession, they would’ve easily crossed the 400-yard threshold.
In his return from a hamstring injury, DeShon Elliott recorded four tackles.
QB Patrick Mahomes made light work of the Steelers. He finished the game with just seven incompletions, 320 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions, and zero sacks. On his final touchdown pass, he hit a wide-open Travis Kelce, a man who has scored more touchdowns than any other player in Chiefs’ history. It was one of his easiest scores.
It continues a slew of coverage busts and wide-open players, especially against tight ends. In the Steelers’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens Saturday, TEs Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely each found the end zone, both wide open. Pittsburgh’s red-zone defense has melted down since the bye week, allowing teams to find the end zone over 70 percent of the time.
“I don’t know where we went down the line started becoming a whole different defensive [team] than we were,” DeShon Elliott said via Adamski. “But we gotta get back to who we are.”
The Steelers looked like one of the NFL’s top defenses the first half of the season. But facing far stronger offenses, they’re now routinely allowing points in bunches. If they hadn’t lost their last three games by double-digits, the scores would’ve been more crooked on the defensive end.
Elliott couldn’t answer if the issues are with scheme or execution.
“I couldn’t tell you,” he said. “We’ll find out tomorrow.”
Whatever the answer, the solution must be discovered immediately. The Steelers have lost control of the AFC North, their defense, and potentially their season.
