It’s unfortunate to see what’s happened to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense. They were one of the NFL’s best for most of the year. However, over the past few weeks, they’ve looked dysfunctional. They’re part of why the Steelers have been losing games. T.J. Watt wants the Steelers’ defense to get back on track as soon as possible.
“I’m trying to get it corrected yesterday,” Watt said Wednesday via Steelers Live on Twitter. “It doesn’t matter if the postseason is here or not. We’re trying to get things corrected as quickly as possible. It’s the NFL, we’re trying to feed our families.
“We take this very seriously week-in and week-out, and obviously, we’re not happy with the performances that we’ve had. We have the talent. We have the coaching staff, we have the belief in this room that we can be a great defense, we can be a great team as a unit.”
It makes sense that Watt is frustrated. He’s supposed to be the best defender in the league, headlining one of the NFL’s best defenses. However, the past few weeks have seen that unit crumble. There aren’t any excuses for their problems either.
One of the biggest challenges the Steelers have been facing is communication. For whatever reason, opposing players have been running around wide-open. The Steelers have been dealing with some injuries, but everyone is beat up at this point in the year. That shouldn’t be the reason why they look lost on the field.
Watt makes it clear the Steelers want these wrinkles ironed out regardless of the playoffs almost being here, but that still puts more pressure on them. The Steelers only have one regular season game left to get their heads on straight. If their defense continues to struggle going into the playoffs, they may be looking at another early exit.
We’ll see if the Steelers’ defense returns to form this week. The Bengals have tons of firepower, so it should serve as a good test. If the Steelers can hold their own, then they should be able to get this monkey off their backs. It won’t be easy, but they need to meet this challenge head-on.
