During a three-game losing streak the Pittsburgh Steelers have been outscored 90-40 and looked overmatched in all three games of the 11-day span in which they found themselves in action.
The highest-paid defense in the NFL has struggled to get stops and has had plenty of communication issues, and the offense has turned the ball over in big spots in rather frustrating fashion. After looking so good for much of the season, the bottom has seemingly fallen out of the Steelers all at once.
Now, the Steelers are going backwards late in the season. They’re playing their worst football, rather than their best as the playoffs near. It’s very concerning. Things have snowballed and it’s really starting to spiral out of control.
Former NFL linebacker and current ESPN analyst Bart Scott doesn’t believe the Steelers can stop this free fall and will make another quick exit from the playoffs.
“They’re turning over the ball at an alarming rate and they can’t do that,” Scott said on Get Up, according to video via ESPN. “They don’t have the margin for error. Not enough weapons on the outside and unfortunately this has been Mike Tomlin’s fate for the last couple of trips to the playoffs, one and done.
“I think they’re getting exposed a little bit for the lack of talent they have on the offensive side of football.”
The free fall has been alarming. After playing smart, sound football through the first 14 weeks of the season, things have completely fallen apart in the last three weeks as the Steelers have played legitimate contenders in the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs.
Offensively, Pittsburgh has been able to move the football, but a turnover in the red zone in back-to-back weeks, failing to execute on weighty downs and not being able to protect the quarterback well enough to let the passing game develop has doomed the Steelers.
But where the real concern within the three-game losing streak is on the defensive side of the football. In the last three games the Steelers have gotten carved up in the passing game in losses to the Eagles and the Chiefs and then in the run game by the Ravens.
While getting carved up, the Steelers have struggled with communication, leading to guys running wide open in the secondary as the Steelers have given up a few uncontested touchdowns in recent weeks. It’s been rather frustrating to watch, and now some players on the defense, including Patrick Queen, DeShon Elliott and Cameron Heyward are calling out the communication issues and the Steelers’ inability to execute within the scheme.
Things are spiraling out of control, and in a hurry. It’s really ugly right now, and the Steelers might not be able to stop the slide. They’ll have another shot at doing that in Week 18 against the Bengals before entering the playoffs.
