Several Steelers Defenders Including Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cam Heyward Own Their Critical Mistakes After Big Week 8 Loss

The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to 2-6 on the season as they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 35-13 on Sunday. The team's offense and defense continue to struggle with splash plays and consistency, and desperately need to make some changes heading into their bye week.

Mike Tomlin on the sideline of Steelers 35-13 loss at Philadelphia. | Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers

There could be a lot of changes coming out of the Week 9 bye week for the Steelers. They could potentially be moving on from offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, and promoting QB coach Mike Sullivan. They could be making significant depth chart changes, among several other things. Regardless of whether or not any of the changes actually happen, one thing the team does need to be focused on is sticking together and not dividing the locker room or the organization.

Steelers' outside linebacker, Alex Highsmith said just that after the game, as he understands that losing times can result in fractures occurring within the locker room. That is something the Steelers can't afford right now. Below are Highsmith's comments according to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic:

"It’s so easy when you’re down like this to pull apart. But you’ve got to continue to stick together no matter how it goes. Unity is big right now. We’ve just got to keep doing that."

Steeler Nation should 100% get behind Highsmith's comments. Yes, the team is currently down, but they are never out, and one thing they never lose is the fact that they always play with one goal in mind as a whole unit. That goal being representing the Steelers the best they can by continuing to be a winning organization.

In order to do this however, every individual on the team needs to take a long look in the mirror, as there isn't a single individual within the organization that doesn't need to improve significantly right now.

The good thing is, most of them are owning up to their mistakes and holding themselves accountable. This is especially true on the defensive side of the ball.

After Sunday's game, there were several defensive players that were interviewed similarly to Highsmith above. Almost all of them were willing to own the fact that they just weren't good enough in Philadelphia. In his postgame interview, Cam Heyward emphasized the need for accountability after being asked about his thoughts on Najee Harris' comments about the team having some lack of accountability:

Steelers RB Najee Harris against the Philadelphia Eagles. | Eric Hartline/USA Today Sports

Multiple other players on defense also owned up to their poor play, including both Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ahkello Witherspoon. Both of them were guilty of some bad plays that resulted in long touchdowns by AJ Brown, and they won't be the first or last players to make those same mistakes against the Eagles' Pro Bowl wide receiver.

Fitzpatrick could've had an interception on the Eagles first possession as QB Jalen Hurts fired a pass deep down the middle into double coverage, but ultimately Fitzpatrick was slightly out positioned by Brown and it ended up in Brown coming down with his first of 3 touchdowns on the day. He wasn't hiding the fact that he needed to make that play with his comments after the game according to a video post by Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

"I gotta make plays on the ball. I started the game off with a play that I should have made. It should have been a pick and a return. The dynamic of the game is totally different with that. I gotta make plays that come my way, every single one of them."

Well, Fitzpatrick told no lies in his statements. Outside of Fitzpatrick, there has been a lack of splash plays to happen in the secondary this season, so when he isn't making those plays, bad things happen for the Steelers. Last week was evidence of that when the team collectively dropped 4 interceptions that could've easily swung the game in the Steelers favor to get a win over the Dolphins.

Witherspoon's comments were very straight forward when it came to his play. After giving up the multiple scores to Brown I mentioned previously, he was benched in favor of James Pierre for much of the second half on Sunday. Below are his comments that he told Chris Adamski as well:

"Being in good position don't mean a thing if you don't make the play."

Correct. Hit the nail right on the head. On both scores to Brown that Witherspoon was in coverage, Witherspoon was right on Brown's hip and left little room for a throw to be fit into. However, Hurts did just that and Witherspoon was unable to make a play on the ball to knock it away.

Change is definitely needed during the bye. But the first step to improving the the play of individuals is getting them to recognize their issues and work on correcting them. A few defensive players already seem to be doing that, let's hope that is something that is a trend throughout the entire Steelers roster.

Let us know what you think below about the Steelers holding themselves accountable, and if you think they will be able to hold together as a team after this rough stretch.

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