Desperation Turns To Disaster In Pittsburgh

By Brien Hanley on December 8, 2023

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The last thing any Pittsburgh Steelers fan envisioned was a flat football team after being embarrassed at home against the Arizona Cardinals. The two-win New England Patriots were coming to town fresh off of their own devastating loss where they were shut against the Los Angeles Chargers 6-0.

To everyone’s surprise, the Steelers stumbled again out of the gate and fell behind 21-3 in the first half. They were never able to recover in a 21-18 loss.

Once again, Pittsburgh was unprepared, uninspired, and showed a lack of effort until the game was nearly out of reach. The locker room is starting to notice and the stars are beginning to speak out.

I wish Mike Tomlin would say this.

I know we all do. pic.twitter.com/PvL92nqMQG

— Mike Nicastro (@MikedUpSports1) December 8, 2023

Mike Tomlin Must Own This

To not have the team ready to play two weeks in a row is completely unacceptable. That falls on the head coach. Yes, there have been injuries across the board that have hampered play on both sides of the ball. Yet when we again see the Steelers take a pre-snap penalty for the third-straight week, you have to question the preparation of the ball club.

The questionable play calling is another example of a lack of leadership. Late in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh had a third-and-two from their own 49-yard line. Instead of trying to run the ball on third down to get closer, they chose to throw a late-breaking crossing route. Then on fourth down, still needing only two yards, they chose to target Diontae Johnson deep down the left sideline. Tomlin said that was the plan. 

#Steelers HC Mike Tomlin on throwing deep on 4th-and-2: “We play to win. We want to be aggressive.”

Tomlin says this was the playcall they wanted to go with. pic.twitter.com/naFedP6IkF

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 8, 2023

The frustration is starting to mount, especially given Tomlin’s responses to logical questions in the post-game press conference. If Pittsburgh is going to turn in around, Tomlin must regain control of his locker room — and, more importantly, their confidence.

Wow… #Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was not very happy in the postgame.

Very snappy and aggressive with the Media 😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/RCLxY7k9q5

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 8, 2023

Offense Fell Flat

Let’s start up front. where the Black and Gold offensive line was manhandled. Time and again, Patriot defenders were able to press off of blocks and shuffle down the line of scrimmage to make plays in the run game. New England’s defense flew around and beat potential blockers to their spots.

Pittsburgh ran for a whooping 82 yards on a night their ground game needed to help backup Mitchell Trubisky as he was making his first start of the season.

Trubisky struggled as well, throwing for 190 yards, the majority of which came in the last 11 minutes of the contest. He was uneasy in the pocket, and inaccurate. While he was somewhat aggressive, too many times he tucked the ball to run versus facing the rush and going through his progressions.

Matt Canada is gone, yet the plan and scheme remain. The play calling was as predictable as always and lacked any of the imagination we saw two weeks ago against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

George Pickens saw six targets and had five catches. In most circumstances, that would be a decent day at the office. But when those five catches only produce 19 yards, you again must look at the scheme and question why he isn’t getting more opportunities down the field. The offense remains a mess.

Defense Looks Drained

While there are no excuses for a New England offense to put up 21 first-half points against you, the defense fought back in the second half to blank the Patriots on the scoreboard.

But injuries are starting to take a toll on the front seven. T.J. Watt was clearly playing hurt. Then he got hit directly in the jaw on the first snap of the game by Ezekiel Elliot’s knee, which slowed him down even more.

Where the Pittsburgh defense is really hurting is up the middle. Elandon Roberts played, but he was compromised. They are already down two middle linebackers for the season. The backups are trying, but they’re not talented enough to overcome any missteps. This leads to open run lanes but more importantly, open passing lanes while in coverage. 

The secondary still has leaks, but got much better as the game went on. Joey Porter Jr. wasn’t tested often, but when he was, he looked like the shutdown corner the Steelers drafted him to be.

Overall, the Steelers have backed themselves into a corner if they want to make the playoffs. Going into the final month of the season, Tomlin must rally the troops and demand their best effort moving forward. Without that, the Steelers will again be home for the playoffs, and big changes might be on the horizon.

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