Despite having a good mark of consistency with a 21-year non-losing season streak, it’s no fun when the Steelers aren’t even sniffing a Super Bowl any longer. It’s hard to watch the team sputter like this, and it’s fair to wonder if it’s time for big changes.
The latest loss to the Bengals means the Steelers have lost four straight games to end the season, while also not improving on their 10-7 record from a year ago. In the last seven seasons, Pittsburgh has had one where they weren’t hovering around 10-7 or 9-8. That was in 2020, where the team started 11-0 but lost four of five to end the regular season before getting embarrassed by the Browns in the playoffs.
It’s just simply not impressive. And you wouldn’t be a spoiled Steeler fan to accuse them of not being good enough either. Mike Tomlin is a well-spoken coach who knows how to get people to believe in him. But it is fair to question if he is running stale and maybe the Steelers need to see a different man at the helm of the team.
The offense hasn’t been formidable in a long time. They maybe can put together a couple good drives in a game, but they lack any true firepower to take over a game. The defense has had its moments, but were built up to be an elite unit that can make up for lack of offense, which they aren’t doing when it matters.
The Steelers had a tough stretch to end the year. But it’s not just they lost four in a row, it’s that they got dominated against the three strong teams that they faced, then lost to a non-playoff team in the Bengals.
It’s hard to say what the answer is for this franchise. They aren’t bad enough where they are picking highly in the draft and can think about doing a true rebuild. They also aren’t good enough to expect that one offseason could suddenly elevate them to Super Bowl contender status. It just feels like they are stuck in this rut of mediocrity that keeps them relevant, but not successful.
They are also not even done yet this year. They still have an opportunity to get a huge playoff win over the Ravens, which would change the tune around the team immediately.
Despite losing in the last game between the two, the Steelers have consistently given Baltimore problems winning 9 of the last 11 games against them. Based on how each team has been playing, it seems easy to predict a comfortable Ravens win. It’s not that simple though with this rivalry.
It’s going to take the Steelers playing at their best. They most likely need to create turnovers and protect the ball themselves, which is how Pittsburgh usually finds a way to win these types of games. Russell Wilson is an experienced quarterback that has been in many huge games over the years. He is going to have to look like it.
Despite the current struggles, things can flip quickly with a huge game like this one. Let’s see if Pittsburgh is up to the challenge, or if they will flounder to begin a long offseason with the same frustrating questions surrounding the team.
