Following a two-game losing streak now extended to three, OC Arthur Smith and DC Teryl Austin have plenty of work to do in order to turn things around. As shown in Tuesday night’s episode of footage prior to the Kansas City Chiefs’ loss, Hard Knocks captured the message each sent sent to the unit they coordinate.
For Smith, costly turnovers were critical in why Pittsburgh’s offense was faltering.
“There’s a couple things I gotta put on here just from the last couple games,” Smith told the offensive group. “It’s really, really simple. I think part of the reason we’ve won 10 games, we’ve taken care of the football. The last couple weeks, and this happens every year around the league, but this ball is coming out way too much in multiple ways and that’s always gonna decide these big games, turnover margin.”
Against the Philadelphia Eagles, RB Najee Harris’ fumble on a simple toss play was costly. The Eagles controlled the game the rest of the way, Pittsburgh’s offense seeing just two second-half possessions. Philadelphia closed out the game with a 21-play drive that chewed up the final 10:29 on the clock.
Versus the Baltimore Ravens, QB Russell Wilson’s fumble near the goal line changed the dynamic of the game. Tied at 7, Pittsburgh was poised to take the lead. Instead, Baltimore took over and marched 96-yards into the end zone themselves, pulling ahead 14-7 in an eventual 34-17 win.
You get on the road and it’s good teams, which we’re gonna have to do if we really truly want to win a Super Bowl,” Smith said. “And you’ve gotta win on the road in a hostile environment, and you’re playing good teams. Well, you turn the ball over, you’re gonna make life really hard on yourself.”
Defensively, the Steelers aren’t taking the ball away. Worse, they’re beating themselves with communication breakdowns and missed assignments.
“It’s not so much what they’re doing, it’s what we’re not doing,” Austin said in a defensive meeting. “We’re not communicating with ourselves. We’re not getting into the right spots and finishing the play the way we should. And that’s on us. That’s our own goal.”
Invoking the soccer term, the Steelers have struggled to pass off routes, adjust to motion and switch releases, and win in the red zone. They’ve also missed chances for turnovers, failing to recover fumbled punt returns against Philadelphia and Kansas City, a strip/sack versus Baltimore, and a tipped pass/interception LB Patrick Queen dropped on Christmas Day.
“Just do the shit right and you don’t have to do too much,” Austin said. “You just gotta take care of your shit. Take care of the stuff that you gotta take care of.”
Over Pittsburgh’s first 13 games, they registered a plus-17 turnover differential. That tied for the NFL’s best mark. During their losing streak, they’re minus-2. A night-and-day difference and antithetical to how the Steelers win. To stop the skid, they have to get back to what made them successful for much of the season.
For a full recap of Hard Knocks, check out our episode review here.
