The Pittsburgh Steelers are a mess. Not the Christmas cheer you were hoping for? Yeah, me either but the truth hurts and after today, it hurts badly. The Steelers have lost three in a row and four of their last six. They are supposed to be peaking this time of year yet they are bottoming out instead.
Much like you’ve probably seen your favorite Christmas movie several times this past week, you’re no stranger to what is happening with our Black and Gold. This is now the fourth time in the last six seasons that the Steelers have lost three straight in December. It’s also the fifth time in seven years that they’ve lost three in a row after Thanksgiving. So in other words, this really shouldn’t be that surprising to any of us. Although there seems to be a constant and sadly that’s Mike Tomlin.
On a day that is supposed to be about coming together and celebrating, the players were doing anything but. Postgame comments from DeShon Elliott, Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt among others spoke to issues within the locker room. Some believe the comments are directed at specific members of the defense while others were more vague. Patrick Queen said that “They can’t explain what’s happening. We keep talking about it. Nobody is doing a thing about it.”
Was that a shot at the players? The coaches? All of the above? Regardless, it’s not good.
They say that losing reveals your true character. That you find out who people really are when they face adversity. The Steelers are facing that adversity right now and it’s not revealing much in the way of character.
This three-game stretch was supposed to be the litmus test for this team. It was supposed to provide us with a true barometer of how good this team really is. Well, consider the test a failure. The Steelers weren’t competitive for most of these contests and that’s a tough pill to swallow. The Steelers are a “good” team but any chance to be considered among the top echelon is gone.
For all of the talk about the defense, the offense has proven it can’t hang around against the better teams in the NFL. It has its moments but you can’t turn the ball over and make the same mistakes over and over and expect to win. It’s gotten so bad that Russell Wilson’s return – which seemed inevitable just four weeks ago – is now up in the air. Not all of that is on him but he’s made far too many mistakes to make his return in 2025 a sure thing.
Next week in the eyes of most fans is relatively meaningless. It’s the game that follows that matters. A wild-card round victory could take some of the current pain away but would it really matter? Would it hide the consistent pattern of late season swoons? Would it hide or take away the fact that this team just can’t beat ‘great’ teams? No, it wouldn’t.
At this point, nothing short of a Super Bowl run would change the way most of us are feeling but realistically, that’s not happening. I’m not suggesting that Mike Tomlin, who seems to be the one consistent cog in this, be fired, but he should feel significant heat. This is a franchise that used to measure itself on Super Bowl appearances but now? It seems to be more about having a season of .500 or better. Go figure.
Any way you slice it, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a mess and it doesn’t look as though it’s going to get any better.
