In the midst of a three-game losing streak in which the Pittsburgh Steelers have been blown out in three straight games and had a myriad of issues, there’s largely been two common ones on the offensive side of the football that have played a part in the losing streak: turnovers and failed opportunities.
Against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15, the Steelers couldn’t capitalize on a pair of early takeaways, getting only a field goal out of a fumbled punt deep in Philadelphia territory. There was also the Najee Harris fumble just when it looked like the Steelers were going to get back into the game, too.
In the Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, there was the Russell Wilson fumble inside the 5-yard line that kept points off the board and then the pick-six thrown by Wilson to Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey that swung the game.
Then, against Kansas City in Week 17 on Christmas Day, Wilson’s end-zone interception took away a great scoring chance just one play after a holding penalty on TE Darnell Washington wiped out a Jaylen Warren touchdown.
Those instances for Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith are things that are frustrating and have hindered the Steelers’ offense in recent weeks. Speaking with reporters Wednesday ahead of the regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals, Smith stated that those types of mistakes will hurt a team every single week, regardless of opponent.
“We played three good teams in a short stretch. The things that always are true that hurt you, you got chances to kind of close the gap or take momentum back,” Smith said of the issues that have plagued the Steelers’ offense in recent weeks, according to video via the Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski on Twitter. “I think about Baltimore, tie ball game early in that game, the turnover in the red zone. Kansas City, a couple things early. Obviously, the momentum swing, points off the board, that’ll hurt you every week. But when you’re playing really good teams and you’re in these playoff type atmospheres, that’s usually the difference.
“That’s why you can chop stats up however you want to. You know, times I thought we’ve run the ball pretty well the last two weeks, but it doesn’t mean anything when you give points away and are not clean operationally. And it’s times when we’ve lost, that’s been an issue.”
At times during the three-game losing streak, the Steelers have done some things well offensively. But in the end, it hasn’t been enough, and it certainly has been enough to help the Steelers overcome some of those self-inflicted mistakes like penalties and turnovers.
Early in those games the Steelers have been in them, with a chance to make it a close game by either taking the lead, pulling even, or getting within one score. Instead, the mistakes have come hard and heavy, really hindering the offense.
That’s how it goes sometimes. When the Steelers are rolling on offense, they are avoiding the penalties and the turnovers. But when things are going poorly, much like they have in the last three weeks, those self-inflicted mistakes are exacerbated.
So, while Smith has seen some good things offensively at times, ultimately none of it maters because the Steelers are losing games by giving points away with turnovers and not being clean operationally pre- and post-snap with penalties.
Hopefully the mini-bye week the Steelers enjoyed will help them get back on track.
