The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost their last three games and haven’t been particularly competitive in any of them while dropping to 10-6. Despite the skid, DL Keeanu Benton said that the Steelers are still hungry, and with at least games still left, they have to go “get it.”
“I think guys are still hungry, to be honest. We still got ball to play, so we can’t do nothing but be hungry. We gotta go out there and get it,” Benton said via video by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on YouTube.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time the Steelers have gone through a stretch like this. The same thing happened last season with Pittsburgh losing three in a row late in the season. The Steelers rebounded from that skid to win their last three regular-season games and make the playoffs, and while there’s still one regular-season game left, the Steelers have already clinched a playoff berth. They’re going to need a similar rebound as last season and show how hungry they are in order to succeed in the postseason this year.
The Steelers have serious issues to fix, chief among them defensive communication, so no matter how hungry they might be, there are schematic issues that need to be fixed before they can really start winning games. With a week and a half until their Week 18 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers will have plenty of time to work on their issues before they hit the field against a different opponent.
Pittsburgh just hasn’t looked like the same team that got off to a 10-3 start over the past few games. The Steelers haven’t been winning the turnover battle, failing to take advantage of forced fumbles and falling on the ball when it comes free and dropping interceptions. They’ve also left receivers wide open due to their poor communication. Part of their issues may stem from the fact that they played three games in 11 days, all against legitimate contenders in the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs, but the Steelers have clear-cut issues that need to be fixed.
They need to have the want-to and attitude to fix those problems, and it seems as if they do, and Benton, among others, saw the turnaround last season. So while the problems are fixable and the Steelers know it, they’re going to need to prove that they’ve fixed the problems that have plagued them over their last three games against Cincinnati for anyone to have faith in them winning in the postseason.
