The Pittsburgh Steelers have now lost three-straight games in the month of December for the fourth time since their last playoff win in 2016 — the fifth if you count a streak that started in November. It’s become a troubling trend as the Steelers struggle to get over the hump in the playoffs. But a three-game losing streak in the regular season isn’t the kiss of death for a team’s chances in the postseason. Just ask the 2005 Super Bowl-winning Steelers.
Their losing streak wasn’t quite so close to the playoffs, but their final loss was on Dec. 4 to the Cincinnati Bengals. DL Chris Hoke, who was a part of that team, talked about how lessons learned by the 2005 group could help the 2024 team get back on track.
“They have enough talent to win but the reality is this: You have to let these guys know, you might be thinking you’re playing well but you’re not playing as well as you think you are,” Hoke said after the Steelers’ 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs via KDKA’s The Extra Point postgame show. “I think back to when we won the Super Bowl back in 2005 when we lost those three games in a row and then we went on to win the Super Bowl.
“I remember Coach [Bill] Cowher pulling us in. He said, ‘Guys listen. Some of you think you’re playing better than you really are. You need to look inside yourself and say am I really doing that.’ He made us grade each play and he had that big Christopher Columbus speech.”
Cowher gave a speech about Columbus and his pursuit of going into uncharted waters and proving the world wrong when nobody said it could be done while exploring the Western world.
The entire media landscape was down on the Steelers in 2005 after that three-game losing streak. They said that making the playoffs couldn’t be done for a team in such a precarious situation. Yet the Steelers ended up ripping off four-straight wins to end the regular season and then four more to secure a fifth Lombardi Trophy for the city of Pittsburgh.
“The reality is we got things back on track and sometimes you have to point things out, ‘Hey, we’re not doing this correctly. The technique’s not as sharp as it needs to be. We’ve got to clean this thing up or we’re going to continue to spiral,'” Hoke said. “Things can get turned around if guys are humble and they’re teachable and coachable, and they got out there and performed on the field.”
Many of the Steelers, particularly on defense, were saying things similar to what Hoke suggested after today’s blowout loss to the Chiefs. Cam Heyward admitted that they’ve been playing “like shit”. DeShon Elliott said that guys have to be doing their jobs and can’t be leaving receivers wide open. Even Alex Highsmith, who typically doesn’t say a ton to the media, said there doesn’t seem to be enough “want-to” right now.
The players are clearly frustrated with their own performance and Mike Tomlin acknowledged that they must take a hard look at themselves in the coming days to map out a plan and make any necessary changes to get back on track.
That 2005 team had the benefit of a four-game buffer between its losing streak and the playoffs. This team has one week to figure it out before the games start mattering again. More than likely, the Steelers will be a Wild Card team, just like that 2005 group that won the Super Bowl. It has been done before, but they have a lot of soul searching to figure it out.
