The Pittsburgh Steelers could have unwrapped a Christmas miracle against the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday. Instead, they gave themselves and the fans in attendance at Acrisure Stadium coal with a lackluster 29-10 loss.
Yes, it was the two-time Super Bowl champions with QB Patrick Mahomes under center. But the reality was that the Steelers only trailed 13-7 at halftime. And yet, when the clock hit triple zeroes at the end of the game, it felt like there was an impassable gulf between the two teams.
“It seemed like the Chiefs was just a little bit out of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ league…” said former Steelers DB Patrick Peterson on Friday’s episode of 1st & Pod with Andrew Fillipponi. “I was just disappointed to see how many busted coverages that we saw in that game. It was time and time again, especially in that second half.”
We all know that the Steelers have been suffering through lapses of defensive communication in the last few weeks. They allowed both of the Philadelphia Eagles’ top wide receivers, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, to each go over 100 yards receiving and haul in a touchdown.
Then against Kansas City, TE Travis Kelce repeatedly found holes throughout the Steelers’ defense, grabbing eight catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Even rookie WR Xavier Worthy found space with eight catches for 79 yards and one touchdown.
The consistent breakdowns in coverage are evidently driving some of the defensive players nuts. And Mark Kaboly thinks the defenders who have been talking want to say who they think is to blame. And the miscommunications resulting in offensive players running wide open toward the first-down marker and the end zone are readily apparent. The root cause is much less apparent.
But the end result is that the Steelers look much less like a contender over the last three weeks than they did beforehand. Three weeks ago (or even two weeks ago), the Steelers were on the verge of securing the AFC North title. Now they’ll need the help of the Cleveland Browns in Week 18. That’s on top of needing to beat the Cincinnati Bengals.
What Peterson says is true. The Steelers aren’t in the same league as the Chiefs at the moment. The Steelers are helping other teams beat them with these lapses in coverage and bad offensive turnovers. The Chiefs, despite the lack of big wins this season, have won so many games by just not beating themselves and allowing other teams to make crucial mistakes.
And until the Steelers prove that they can get rid of those self-inflicted wounds, they won’t be in the same league as the Chiefs, the Ravens, or the Bills. And that’s where they need to be to have a shot at postseason success.
