One is random, two is a coincidence, three is a trend. For the Pittsburgh Steelers defensively, they’ve played below the line in three-straight games with miscommunication and blown assignments riddling all three of their recent losses. Frustration boiled over into media quotes following the Steelers’ 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Wednesday, a game in which Pittsburgh’s defense had almost no answers for Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and company. Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly was one of those in the locker room after the Steelers dropped to 10-6, and he sensed players wished they could’ve said even more.
“Something was a little off yesterday after the game,” Kaboly said during a Thursday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “You could tell people wanted to say something about somebody specific, but they bit their tongue.”
Kaboly referenced DT Cam Heyward’s comment that 10 players do their job but one doesn’t and “we are screwed.” While there seemed to be general commentary on the need for everyone to be on the same page and that any weak link will be exploited, teammates made more specific comments about players explicitly not doing their job. The most pointed ones came from SS DeShon Elliott, who vented to reporters following the game.
It’s not clear if Kaboly’s assessment is accurate and if so, which player could be under the most scrutiny. It would need to be a defensive player who is playing most of the snaps or, at least, ones on significant downs. LB Patrick Queen wears the green dot and never leaves the field and any on-field communication problems centers on him. That doesn’t make him responsible for every busted coverage but just in the way offensive issues are worked from the quarterback out, the same applies for the defensive quarterback. But Queen has expressed frustration the past two games over players not doing their jobs. He would know better than anyone else.
FS Minkah Fitzpatrick has seemingly been around the ball during many of these breakdowns, including the Chiefs’ first touchdown yesterday to WR Xavier Worthy. A play where Worthy lined up at running back and jetted to the flat, open and turning upfield for the score. Kaboly shared that Mike Tomlin’s message this weekend was “don’t get beat to the flat,” only to watch the defense get beaten exactly that way throughout the game. CB Cam Sutton is only playing in sub-packages but has also seemingly been around the miscues.
“They made it known that somebody, one, two, three people — who knows? — are going outside of their capabilities,” Kaboly said of the Steelers’ repeated issues. “Maybe trying to play maybe hero ball.”
In their loss to the Baltimore Ravens last Saturday, Heyward said that was largely the issue, including blaming himself for trying to do too much. Clearly, the Steelers aren’t following the principle of “do your job,” which is creating massive problems and breakdowns.
Seemingly, the issue runs deeper than one player. And Kaboly believed the players weren’t criticizing the scheme so much as teammates, making it less likely things were directed at DC Teryl Austin. Whatever and whoever the reason and the fault, it must get fixed. Or else the problems will continue, and the Steelers’ season will end after Wild Card weekend.
