Pittsburgh Needs To Pass The Hostility Test
Nov 12, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin looks on against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
In the NFL dealing with adversity in tough environments generally leads to tough teams. The Pittsburgh Steelers enjoy a rare privilege. Like a small group of other teams including the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the San Francisco 49ers, the Steelers have an immense and sprawling fan base that shows up at nearly every place the team does. It’s a wonderful luxury, but it also prevents the team from being consistently exposed to the sort of intense environments that exist in some of the year’s most important games.
Sunday was the first “away” game for the black and gold this year. I am aware that if you look at the season, the Steelers have donned their visitor white tops on multiple occasions. Those weren’t away games though. Not in the true sense. On Sunday, for the first time this season, Kenny Pickett didn’t have the luxury of an away stadium split 50/50 with Steelers fans. This was a truly hostile environment. And Pittsburgh failed the “handle the hostility” test.
The Steelers had little rhythm throughout the game. The defense looked flustered as they matched up with the Browns personnel. They were frantically waiving their hands at one another just to find their spots before the play snapped. On the second play of the game, Mike Tomlin called a timeout to avoid a penalty for having 12 men on the field. It was a sloppy disaster.
The offense wasn’t clean either. The crowd noise caused fits for offensive communication. Some of that may explain the throw to no one on the right sideline when Kenny uncorked a ball to a ghost.
Kenny Pickett is about to be unleashed. Get the hell out of his way pic.twitter.com/r9bbNPz6pE
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) November 21, 2023
It also seemed to be the reason that the offensive line couldn’t get the protection right most of the day. Those are issues that are difficult to overcome, and Pittsburgh simply cannot survive games with this type of dysfunction. Nevertheless, they almost did… again.
With the game-winning drive cued up, the Steelers found themselves with roughly 80 yards to go, and one time-out. The type of situation Ben Roethlisberger would dream of. The Steelers were weary, and went away from the run. The result was three Kenny Pickett passes and a punt from Pressley Harvin III.
You can’t convince me that Pittsburgh loses that game if they are playing in Heniz field. If everything played out the same way, and the Steelers are fully loaded with time-outs, Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris are able to carry them down for a Chris Boswell walk-off. But it didn’t happen. They couldnbt handle them omet in that environment.
This result may just all but prove that if the Steelers squeak their way into the playoffs, they are not much of a threat. This loss lands them squarely in third place in the AFC North. Analysts give them a below 50% chance to make the playoffs.
But, perhaps with the Matt Canada firing finally behind them, the loss can act as a catalyst of sorts. Their main scapegoat is now officially out of the building and Pittsburgh knows what needs to be done. Mike Tomlin, at this stage of his career, cannot have a team this poorly prepared for a hostile environment Mistakes are expected, this is the NFL after all, but now is the time, with a new focus on offense, for this team to look itself in the mirror and figure out what it takes to be able to do what they do in favorable environments in unfavorable environments.
Ultimately I think they will work their way in, but it won’t likely end well. Maybe they will put on a more stout defense than they did in Cleveland? But thhey will absolutely be in a stadium that is not their own. if they don’t figure out how to erase this sort of sloppiness it wont end well. But hey, at least Mike Tomlin won’t have a losing season.
Up Next