The Pittsburgh Steelers had another miserable showing in their Week 4 defeat to the Houston Texans. Nothing seemingly went right for the team as they fell by a score of 30-6. It doesn't help that the Texans have multiple former Steelers on the team, and it's even worse that those former Steelers are known to have loud mouths. One of these begrudged players took to X to voice his thoughts, although it's not the guy that you would expect.
Matt Patterson / AP Photo
Former Steelers cornerback Steven Nelson becomes the veteran leader of the Houston Texans cornerback room after the departure of Desmond King to Pittsburgh.
Kendrick Green has been talking smack all week about how he's happy to be out of Pittsburgh, but he hasn't bad-mouthed the Steelers since the game ended; at least not yet. Instead, it was Steven Nelson who took to social media to go off on his former team. While he didn't name any names, he threw some shade at some of the current Steelers.
Send they ass tf home ! They said I wasn’t what ? Oh aight I got receipts gas the plane up ! don’t sign names sign dogs !!! Period
— Steve Nelson (@Nelson_Island) October 1, 2023
At the very least, Nelson has some very strong implications with those questions. He had some disputes with the front office in the 2021 offseason, which led to him demanding a trade and eventually being cut entirely. The Steelers then moved their newly extended corner, Cameron Sutton, up on the depth chart from slot corner to outside corner.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson gets into some 2023 preseason action against the Atlanta Falcons during the final week of exhibition games.
Steelers' Patrick Peterson Seemingly Called Out
"Don't sign names, sign dogs." In the 2023 offseason, the Steelers signed Patrick Peterson to a two-year contract. While he is a big name, he has not been productive on the field through four weeks aside from one interception. This lack of production has led to Steeler Nation begging the team to give Joey Porter Jr more snaps, but their calls have been unanswered. Instead, they are stuck with a big name that doesn't have any dog in him, according to Nelson.
While Nelson might be salty at the Steelers front office, or the other defensive backs that the Steelers have signed, he still has a ton of respect for his former teammates. The grudge isn't against the team as a whole, but he is still more than happy to prove to his former bosses that letting him go was a big mistake.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Steven Nelson (22) trains at Heinz Field during the Steelers 2020 Training Camp, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 in Pittsburgh, PA. (Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers)
As the commentators repeatedly said, the Steelers receivers did not have much room to breathe all game. Kenny Pickett was throwing in tight windows all game long before getting injured. Even though some of that is likely due to Matt Canada's terrible play-calling, it is still impressive that the defensive backs for the Texans locked down the receivers that much.
For now, and for Victory Monday, Nelson will be cashing in all his receipts like he mentioned in his tweet. The Texans clamped down while the Steelers' secondary couldn't figure out how to stop Nico Collins all day long. Nelson had a more productive day than the entire Steelers defense, and unlike the Steelers, Nelson prepared for this game and showed out with a chip on his shoulder.
What do you think of Steven Nelson's comments on the Steelers, as well as what his implications are? Let us know down in the comments.
#SteelerNation.
