The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered premature elimination to end the 2024 season, a common problem for an aging team. For the players who aren’t still recovering, though, many are already looking to next year. Not even the specialists are free from that, and it’s hard to be when a season end in such a manner.
On his podcast, Steelers LS Christian Kuntz walked us through the emotions of a season’s bitter end. “It’s just those three emotions. You get a sense of relief, you’re pissed from losing, and then you’re motivated”, he said.
“I have a sense of motivation to be like, ‘I know what I did wrong in that game. I know what I need to work on.’ Then I also feel, I’m pissed off, obviously, losing, season ending. I wanted to go to the Super Bowl. I wanted to win the Super Bowl. Pissed off, and then like, ‘Whew’, a sense of relief as well”.
Now, Steelers fans might not like to hear players talking about feeling relief after a horrible, season-ending loss. In fact, we know that’s the case based on the reaction to an article about reporters sensing relief among players. But relief is a very human emotion, and Kuntz explained what he means.
“When you’re under the microscope all year and it’s high-pressure situations, I just feel like once it ends and you don’t really have to go through the stressful part, you just get this weight off your shoulders”, he said. “It’s kind of a crazy feeling. Yeah, it sucks, we’re pissed off we lost. But, like, there’s nothing we can do about it now. It’s over”.
The Steelers’ extended losing streak to end the regular season didn’t help. They didn’t simply lose in the Wild Card Round; they lost as a sixth seed after competing for the first. Thanks to their four-game losing streak, the Steelers diminished their odds of winning in the playoffs. And then they very much did not win.
In fact, the Steelers are getting very good at not winning in the playoffs. Not only do they make it there frequently, but they also manage to lose in spectacular fashion, and consistently. They not only have the NFL’s longest active playoff losing streak, they also extended their record for the most consecutive playoff games allowing 28 or more points.
But relief is very much not something you want to feel as an NFL player without the Lombardi Trophy. The Steelers have not felt that relief in a very long time. Mike Tomlin was younger than I am now when that happened, which is a scary thought. So relief, anger, motivation: can the Steelers channel these emotions into a productive offseason?
