It seems odd to say right now, but at one point, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the best team in the AFC North this year. That has changed now, though. After leading their division for most of the year, the Steelers collapsed to end the season. Although they’re still in the playoffs, this four-game losing has drained people of confidence in the Steelers. Former Steelers corner Bryant McFadden is even running out of optimism.
“This is not the way you want to go into the playoffs because let’s keep it real, we know they’re going into the playoffs, but it feels like the season is over because you lost four-straight games,” McFadden said recently on CBS Sports HQ. “In that four-game losing streak, you were sitting atop of your division.
“You had a two-game lead on the Baltimore Ravens, and you’re playing the worst football of the season in the most important time. That’s not the way you want to go into the playoffs. I say this week-in and week-out, either you’re thriving or you’re surviving. Right now, for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’re barely surviving.”
McFadden isn’t wrong. The Steelers have not looked like a playoff-caliber team over the past few weeks. They had the division crown in their hands, but they stumbled and staggered to end the year. Hard times seemed to break the Steelers.
There’s not one singular reason for their failures either. While their defense stepped up against the Cincinnati Bengals, that unit looked lost for the three games before that. Miscommunication and missed tackles turned them from one of the best defenses in the league to a confusing mess. The Steelers are usually defined by their defense, but that group hurt is part of the reason they’re in this spot.
The Steelers’ offense has largely been what’s holding them back most, though. Russell Wilson has regressed since starting out hot, and George Pickens’ attitude problems culminated in an absolute dud of a performance against the Bengals. That side of the ball has provided next to nothing for weeks.
McFadden is correct that the Steelers are crawling to the finish line. They don’t look like a team that can compete in the postseason. As a team that was competing to win their division and host a playoff game, the Steelers have fallen a long way.
It’s still unclear who the Steelers will face in the first round of the playoffs, but it’s likely going to be the Baltimore Ravens. While the Steelers have had success against the Ravens recently, they just got crushed during their last trip to Baltimore. It doesn’t feel like the Steelers have improved enough since then to change the results.
Stranger things have happened, though. Maybe this loss to the Bengals will finally give the Steelers the wake-up call they desperately need. It feels like people have been saying that after all of their recent losses, so that might not prove true. The bottom line is that the Steelers are in the middle of a downward spiral, and it doesn’t feel like they’re going to escape it any time soon.
