All is not merry and bright with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their Christmas was spoiled with a terrible loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers lost by 19, but for most of the game, they were in the fight. However, it might not have felt like that when watching it. After the game, Alex Highsmith stated that it didn’t feel like enough players wanted to win. DeShon Elliott agreed with that statement.
“It looks like it, especially after we got down 22-10,” Elliott said after the game via the team’s website. “At that point in time, we still had a chance to win that game. I don’t care. I think we always have a chance to win the game, but it’s like we just started getting in the dirt.
“Stand up. We have the guys to stand up, we have the chemistry and the character in our room to stand up. We just gotta do it. If you want to go where we want to go, we gotta freaking do it.”
It doesn’t sound like things are okay with the Steelers right now, and they shouldn’t be. They’ve lost three straight games by double-digit points. That’s embarrassing. Yes, they’ve been dealing with injuries. Yes, their schedule has been brutal. For a team with aspirations of making a run in the postseason, none of that should matter.
After last week’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Patrick Queen had strong words about how the Steelers played. That message must not have hit home with everyone, though, because the Steelers played just as bad against the Chiefs. Elliott is right that it seemed like they gave up too.
Elliott is correct that the Steelers still had a chance to win the game, even when they were down 22-10. Following that touchdown by the Chiefs, the Steelers got the ball at basically the start of the fourth quarter. Instead of driving down the field and fighting back, the Steelers fumbled the ball away.
After that, their defense allowed a quick and easy touchdown for the Chiefs. It felt like the game was over, but there were still over 10 minutes left on the clock. It felt like the Steelers threw in the towel, with Elliott’s statement backing that point up.
Unfortunately, the Steelers don’t have a ton of time left to get back on track. They’ve only got one regular season game left. Hopefully, they’ll take time this week to sort out their issues. The Steelers are in the playoffs, so they need to sort themselves out before they get into the postseason. Otherwise, they could end up not winning a playoff game again.
