The 2024 season will go down as another disappointment for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Although they spent most of the season as one of the hottest teams in the NFL, the last month saw them take a nosedive. They lost their final four regular season games, and then they got instantly bounced out of the playoffs. The Baltimore Ravens crushed them, and former NFL wide receiver James Jones believes it looked like the Steelers didn’t even want to be there.
“Them Steelers didn’t want to play,” Jones said Monday on FS1’s The Facility. “I have never seen a Steelers team look like that coached under Mike Tomlin. It’s kudos to the Ravens. This is a divisional opponent. You talking about 13 rushes in a row?
“That’s letting you know, ‘Man, listen, we’re gonna do what we do best, but we know we’re way more physical than you.’ You can’t ever really say that about a Pittsburgh Steelers football team.”
It’s true that the Ravens did dominate the Steelers. Derrick Henry rushed for 186 yards on 26 carries, rolling through the Steelers’ defense. It was domination, and Jones is correct. It isn’t often that the Steelers look so outmatched. However, this season saw that become more common.
To end the season, the Steelers looked like a totally different team. Starting with their game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Steelers kept getting punched in the mouth. Teams were destroying them, with their defense becoming unreliable seemingly overnight.
That unit was supposed to be their backbone, but they allowed missed tackles and miscommunication to derail their season. It’s not like the Steelers’ offense was much better, either. Russell Wilson’s level of play dropped off as well, and no one made many plays down the stretch. They began to fail on all levels.
The Steelers allowed the Ravens to quickly take the lead, and once that happened, it didn’t seem like they had much fight left. They did show some life in the second half, but nothing serious enough to really threaten the Ravens.
If that’s what Jones considers not wanting to play, then the Steelers looked like they wanted the season to end with four weeks left. They had opportunities to turn things around, but they kept getting in their own way. It was a pitiful effort, especially after they were leading the AFC North for most of the year.
Unfortunately, it’s also nothing new for the Steelers. Tomlin has been one of the best coaches in the NFL, but in the playoffs recently, the Steelers have looked outclassed. That’s part of why this loss is so frustrating. For an organization with high standards like the Steelers, the past few years have not been good enough. The Steelers can’t keep finding themselves in this same cycle.
