Pittsburgh lost its third game in a row, and it was not close.
NFL Presents Fans a Xmas Day Choice
The NFL schedule presented a choice to me: football or family? The game was scheduled on a Wednesday right in the middle of Christmas Day. Sounds like a tough decision. But I’m just an average Steelers fan and chose my family tradition of exchanging gifts and a meal over football.
The television was on in the living room but muted. Again, the sound coming from Steelers Nation Radio. But I could not really follow what was happening. I was more engaged with family banter about the goodies everyone received from our secret Santa exchange and hearing everyone’s plans for New Years Eve.
We finished up our meal, and I went to watch the remainder of the game right as the fourth quarter started. Just in time to see Kansas City score to take a 22-10 lead. Then Russell Wilson was sacked. Pat Freiermuth fumbled the ball away. And suddenly it’s 29-10. Any chance of climbing back into the game was negated by Connor Heyward lined up offsides. Not a flinch. Just literally lined up with his foot offsides. Details, details, details.
Pittsburgh was into garbage time with over six minutes to play. The Steelers last possession lasted 3:31 as an extended two-minute drill. And that drive sputtered out at the eight-yard line after Scottie Miller’s false start and the officials mercifully brought the game to an end.
Pittsburgh Performed Putridly
Pittsburgh performed putridly. A segment of Steelers “fans” who had been grudgingly silent for much of the season as the team reached a pinnacle at 10-3 are now unfettered. The smug, knowing messages of, I withheld judgement. But don’t you see? This team will never win a Super Bowl with Mike Tomlin as head coach. Or its time to fire defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. Another thread is how Russell Wilson is not the answer. Yet another is Arthur Smith is unimaginative and so predictable.
Now, the team is 10-6. Then there is the group of people who have already conceded that Pittsburgh cannot win a playoff game. I am not going to defend the indefensible. The team collapsed under the strain of playing three games in 10 days. But teams like the Ravens and Chiefs are thriving with the same schedule. Maybe one or all of these propositions are true. Win, lose or draw, I remain a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
Game Review Resources
Here are some regular Steelers Depot articles that I read before and after games. If you want more blow-by-blow accounts or details of the game, check these out:
Depot Roundtable Steelers versus Chiefs Preview
Steelers Five Keys to Victory
Steelers versus Chiefs Prediction
Recap Steelers versus Chiefs
Steelers versus Chiefs Winners and Losers
Tom’s Ten Takes on Steelers versus Chiefs
Kozora Reaction to Steelers versus Chiefs
Stats of the Weird Steelers versus Chiefs
Positional Grades Steelers versus Chiefs
YOUR HOT TAKES DURING THE GAME
Thank you, Ross McCorkle, for keeping us up to date on the game’s Live Update and Discussion Threads. Steelers Depot respondents contributed 1,184 first half comments. Respondents added 1,448 more second half comments. Here are the top three comments from each half. I don’t know the algorithm used by Disqus but here is how they stacked it up:
The top first half comments:
- Yinz Guyz not happy with the officiating: “Terrible, terrible holding call. Absolute joke.”
- Raise_it continued that theme: “Chiefs and refs duo is unbeatable.”
- And Alevin16 made it a trifecta: “If PQ did catch that I am sure a flag would have come out nullifying it.”
The top second half comments:
- The top comment of the second half from BuccosFanStuckinMD: “Chiefs don’t even respect the Steelers. This was their easiest win all season.”
- Mateo K added: “This team is so, so bad. Horribly coached and it shows.”
- Finally, Chris92021 wants major change: “If Mike Tomlin left and won Super Bowls elsewhere a la Andy Reid, whatever. I root for the Steelers. I think someone else needs to be in charge because the same mistakes and issues over and over again are beyond insane. “
We easily met the 1,000 comment standard in both halves. Unfortunately, after another loss it was salty.
CONCLUSION
So many people believe they know how to “fix” the Pittsburgh Steelers.
There is no one who’s more frustrated than the coaches and players. They will have to figure out what to do. All our bleating for change is at most a distraction. At the least a waste of energy. I’m getting ready to attend the last game and see how they look going into the playoffs.
They have the same amount of time it took to play three games to prepare for the regular season finale. Their final regular season performance may give us a glimpse of whether they have righted the ship in time for the playoffs. Here we go.
And a special shoutout to the Steelers Depot staff. They cranked out about 50 articles on Christmas Day. Many thanks for all your efforts to keep Steelers Nation informed.
Your Song Selection
I always like to include a bit of music. The Steelers got lost somewhere in this final brutal stretch of games. Football is not supposed to make us sad. Though we may feel that way right now, the next game is about desperation. Every now and then, we do get desperate. How did we get so lost? Here is Musta Got Lost performed by The J. Geils Band.
