When the NFL released every team’s schedule for 2024, Pittsburgh Steelers fans always had to be dreading this stretch. It isn’t even about the Steelers’ opponents, but the lack of rest they’ve received. They just finished playing three games in 11 days. It could be easy to use that as an excuse for their 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but Alex Highsmith doesn’t believe that had any impact on the outcome.
“They had to deal with it too,” Highsmith said after the Steelers lost their third consecutive game via KDKA’s Extra Point postgame show. “They had a short week just like us. They had to come on the road. There’s no excuses for what happened today. We just gotta put our head down and work.”
Highsmith is right. The Chiefs played under the same circumstances as the Steelers. Maybe their previous opponents weren’t as good, but it’s the NFL. Every game is going to leave players hurting. The Steelers have their own issues beyond their schedule, which they had no control over.
For instance, it sounds like their team is not on the same page. Multiple players have expressed their frustrations with how the team has played recently. The Steelers hold themselves to a high standard, and they have not met that threshold recently. That goes for the offense and defense.
Even though they haven’t necessarily been the worse unit, the Steelers’ defense has been the real disappointment. Most of this season saw them playing like arguably the best defense in the NFL. However, miscommunication, missed tackles, and overall sloppiness have killed them. For the most part, they’ve looked lost.
The Steelers’ offense hasn’t been much better. Although they got George Pickens back this week, turnovers have still been halting any of their momentum. It feels like any time they do something right, they follow it up with three bonehead moves. Nothing is clicking.
All that is to say that the schedule is one of the last things the Steelers need to blame for this string of losses. You could argue that they had opportunities to win every one of those games. They just never seemed to capitalize at the right time.
With one regular season game left, the Steelers can still prove they aren’t as bad as they’ve looked. They’ll get a nice break before they face the Cincinnati Bengals, and with any luck, they’ll be able to iron out some of their wrinkles. If they don’t, it could be tough sledding ahead.
