There are myriad reasons why the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. Maybe the biggest issue is how slowly they’ve started in the postseason. In their last six playoff games, they’ve been outscored 73-0 in the first quarter. They’ve dug themselves into holes they couldn’t climb out of. Former Steelers corner Bryant McFadden believes that was one of the most disappointing parts of the Steelers’ 28-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens Saturday night.
“When you look at how bad they were in the regular season, one would think the sense of urgency would be put on display, especially to start the game off,” McFadden said recently on CBS Sports HQ. “They were sleeping at the wheel. They didn’t even play around with their food.
“They didn’t even look at their food. It was just there. In terms of playoff football, especially when you’re on the road, you have to get off to fast starts to be able to snatch the momentum away from the home team.”
That’s been the story with the Steelers for the past few years. They open games like they’re sleepwalking, especially on offense. When the second half comes around, they tend to look like a more inspired team, but it’s been too little too late.
The Ravens game may best encapsulate why they can’t continue to start so poorly. The Steelers were down 21-0 at halftime, and the Ravens got the ball to start the second half. It felt like the game was already over.
Then, the Steelers began to show a little life. They quickly forced the Ravens to punt to open the second half. Their offense followed that by driving down the field to score a touchdown. For a moment, it seemed like the Steelers had a chance again.
However, that deficit proved to be too large to overcome. The Steelers essentially had to play perfect in the second half to win. In the NFL, and especially on the road in the playoffs, that’s just asking too much. McFadden is correct that the Steelers needed to show more fire out of the gate.
At this point, it’s unclear what needs to change to fix this issue. The Steelers have undergone numerous changes over the past few years, yet slow starts continue to plague them. Maybe it’s a problem with Mike Tomlin’s approach to games. Maybe it’s just the Steelers’ offensive philosophy in general. Whatever the case, it needs to change if they want to really compete for a championship.
