The Pittsburgh Steelers are coasting their old jalopy into the postseason, riding a four-game losing streak. They are just the third team in NFL history to do so in such a fashion, and shockingly, neither of their predecessors won the Super Bowl. The 1986 Jets did win a playoff game, so they’ve got that going for them, which is nice.
Even with the stacked schedule and the untimely injuries, it’s impossible to rationalize the Steelers’ four-game skid. It’s easy to wonder if there isn’t something deeper under the surface waiting to rear its ugly head. Ugly things do tend to come to light when things aren’t going well. Ray Fittipaldo is sensing just that during this recent run.
During his recent chat session, Fittipaldo fielded a question that he deemed off the mark. One reader wondered if the Steelers’ late-season skid has to do with Mike Tomlin not working his players hard enough. On the contrary, he said they practiced in pads last week, and “some players weren’t thrilled”.
“I just think they need better game plans, better buy-in from players”, Fittipaldo added of the Steelers’ current predicament. “I get the sense now that a lot of players are frustrated and not believing in the game plans”.
This being a mere chat session, Fittipaldo never elaborated on his sense. But frankly, a lot of Steelers fans have probably gotten the same sense—probably based off the same things. We have all seen, heard, and read the postgame quotes after these losses. Some like DeShon Elliott and Patrick Queen voiced their frustrations, while others like Minkah Fitzpatrick bit their tongues.
The overall gist of many remarks was that players weren’t on the same page, for a variety of reasons. They weren’t trusting one another, they weren’t trusting the communication, and they weren’t trusting the Steelers’ game plan. Or at least, they weren’t trusting their ability to execute it.
How are they going to fix all that in a week? The Steelers did show some signs of life and cohesion on defense, at least. And that was no small feat against a very good Bengals offense. Their own offense, of course, could hardly get out of its own way. They may have landed Trey Hendrickson the Defensive Player of the Year Award, quite frankly.
Fittipaldo saying that he senses Steelers players are frustrated is hardly a revelation. Saying that he senses they are not believing in the Steelers’ game plans, that’s another matter. Now we’re talking about coaching, and that adds a whole other dimension. The players will tell their own story, but does it reflect reality?
The Steelers, of course, hired Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator this offseason. At one point, they had a top-10 scoring offense, but they finished 16th after their collapse. While the defense finished first in takeaways, that was really that unit’s only claim to fame. The Steelers even finished with only 40 sacks despite having two Pro Bowlers in the front seven.
With the Steelers staring at a likely one-and-done playoff run, we know something’s got to give this offseason. But what will that look like—and how will it affect Mike Tomlin’s coaching staff?
