Every single game in the National Football League is a “big game.” When you get 17 of them, there are very few opportunities to slip up or in the case of last week, “take an opponent lightly.” Because the Pittsburgh Steelers apparently did that in losing to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, their margin of error is nearly down to zero. Why would I suggest this game on Thursday night is so big? Because a loss would mean having to win three out of the final four games to reach 10 wins which seems to be the number in the AFC to get into the postseason. Three of those final four are also on the road too. With all of this in mind, why is this game the game that will determine the Steelers’ fate?
What Did You Learn?
From the remarks made in the postgame to comments given in the days that followed, Steelers’ players definitely admitted they took the Cardinals ‘lightly’ and it showed. Mental mistakes, pre-snap penalties, post-snap errors – all of it – were contributing factors in the team’s 24-10 loss to the lowly team from the NFC West. Jaylen Warren said it. So too did Mason Cole and Diontae Johnson among others.
Now the question is whether or not the Steelers learned anything from this. We won’t get an answer until the final gun on Thursday night but we’ll have some decent clues throughout the game. Mike Tomlin can say “there’s no homecoming game in the NFL” all he wants to and he can blame how a reporter phrased a question in regards to his team not being properly prepared. But he knows deep down his team wasn’t ready Sunday. His days of relying on his veterans to take care of that stuff are over. They experienced a hard lesson, but will they have actually gained anything from it?
Game-By-Game But…
If this season has proven anything it’s that the NFL truly is a ‘week-to-week’ proposition. There really aren’t any truly dominant teams and even the worst teams are giving their opponents tight games. I say this because we know how the Steelers handled the Bengals in their first game with Jake Browning at QB. In his second game however, he went 32/37 for 354 yards in a win at Jacksonville. My point is that suddenly that game doesn’t look like the ‘sure win’ it did a week ago.
The other three opponents waiting in the wings for the Steelers are all hosting the Black and Gold. More importantly, they are also in the hunt for a postseason birth or for playoff positioning. Do the Steelers really want to be forced yet again to have to go into Seattle and/or Baltimore knowing they are must-win games or else?
When this season reaches its’ eventual conclusion, we will largely look back on the loss to Arizona as to when everything went South. Not only did they lose ground in the division but the larger issue revealed was the team’s lack of communication and preparation. That’s what makes this week so huge. Will the players and coaches have taken everything that occurred Sunday and through today to heart?
Trust me, we’re going to find out.
