Something is wrong with the Pittsburgh Steelers. For most of this season, they were flying high atop the AFC North. Now, they’ve dropped their last three games. They’ve lost by double-digits in each of those matchups too. Nothing has been pretty, and the results have been miserable. Patrick Queen doesn’t seem to have an answer for why the Steelers have continued to look so bad.
“We came out flat,” Queen said after the Steelers’ 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs via 93.7 The Fan on Twitter. “Can’t explain it. It’s happening. We’re talking about it, and nobody is doing anything about it. I don’t know.”
This is similar to what Queen said after last week’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He was frustrated by the team’s performance then, and it doesn’t sound like his message totally resonated with the Steelers. This week brought more of the same mistakes that have been plaguing them.
Miscommunication has been the very worst thing about the Steelers’ defense recently. Opposing players have been running around wide open for weeks. That seems to have built up some frustration among players. They were a solid unit, so it’s curious what changed that.
Queen isn’t the only player to express his frustration after this latest loss. Alex Highsmith and DeShon Elliott were just as perturbed. Although the Steelers’ defense got healthier this week, that didn’t matter. They still couldn’t get on the same page.
At this point, it’s unclear what is going to fix the Steelers’ problems. It seems like Queen feels like they all know what they’re doing wrong, but no one has walked the walk. The Steelers have one of the most talented defenses in the NFL, one that looked solid for most of the season. These don’t feel like issues that the Steelers should be dealing with at this point in the year.
It’s not like the defense is the Steelers’ only issue either. Their offense has been just as bad, if not worse, at times. They got WR George Pickens back this week, but that didn’t spark their offense enough. Turnovers have been killing them too.
The past few weeks have been a stark difference compared to how the Steelers looked for most of the year. Their defense hasn’t been reliable. Their offense keeps turning the ball over. It’s felt like nothing has gone right. Hopefully, with one game left in the regular season, the Steelers can bounce back in some fashion. They’re too talented to keep playing like this.
