Steelers' Mason Cole After Atrocious Loss Doesn't Seem To Feel At All Responsible

The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a humiliating loss to the Arizona Cardinals during their Week 13 matchup at Acrisure Stadium. Football is a team sport and therefore you can rarely place all of the blame for a loss on one player's shoulders. However, at times more blame lies on one player than on another. In a game that saw Minkah Fitzpatrick break his hand and return to the game to try to help his team come back and win, we saw other players barely show up. One of those poor performances came from center Mason Cole, who in his postgame interview, seemed to take no personal accountability. 

To be quite honest, the Steelers might have been better if Cole had actually not shown up and backup center Nate Herbig had to fill in. While there's an old saying that you should never challenge the universe by saying, "It couldn't be worse," it is truly hard to imagine that. 

The whole offense seemed out of sync again, like they took a step backward, back to their "Matt Canada" days. This is exasperating especially after it seemed they were making positive steps forward under new offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner, and play-caller Mike Sullivan. Cole wasn't the only problem on offense, but when your center is performing poorly, it throws the whole game off. In speaking with the media after the game, thanks to a video by 93.7 The Fan, a smirking Cole seemed to take no personal responsibility for the loss.     

"Today felt like a weird day across the board. We weren't good enough. We were good all week, we had a good week of practice, prep was good. We felt like we had a really good game plan, just didn't execute it. Just wasn't our day, no excuse for that. We're gonna have to wipe the slate clean and get a win in four days," said a seemingly nonplussed Cole.

During the game against the Cardinals, Cole botched several snaps. One of his bad snaps caused Pittsburgh to fail to pick up a third and short in the first quarter. Cole snapped the ball so low that it took quarterback Kenny Pickett time to corral it and the defenders were able to sack him. Pittsburgh had to punt and it set Arizona up for their first field goal. 

After Pickett was injured and backup Mitch Trubisky came into the game, Cole had another low snap. Trubisky wasn't as fast as Pickett and this one was fumbled and recovered by the Cardinals. Arizona was able to turn it into a touchdown. 

It wasn't just those blunders, the entire game Cole was manhandled by defenders. This impacted the previously improving run game and hurt the backs' abilities to find openings. 

Steelers' Center Woes Continue

The Steelers have struggled with finding a solid center since the great Maurkice Pouncey retired at the end of the 2020 season. Pittsburgh had veteran backup center J.C. Hassenauer and then-rookie Kendrick Green compete for the starting job in training camp in 2021. Green, a third-round draft pick, was named the starter by Head Coach Mike Tomlin before the start of the regular season.

Green struggled in his new position, he had not played center much in college, instead playing guard. At the end of his first season, he was graded 53.1 by Pro Football Focus. He also accumulated six penalties. During the 2022 season, Green was moved back to guard and competed with, and lost, the position to Kevin Dotson.  

The Steelers signed Cole to a three-year contract before the 2022 season in hopes of getting the offense on track. Unfortunately, Cole has been inconsistent at best. The low snaps have become his signature move and it is costing the Steelers games. 

While there is other blame to go around, the bulk of the blame for Sunday's loss rests with Cole. Miraculously Pittsburgh still has a chance to make the playoffs. But the center position is one of the most critical ones on offense. The quarterback relies on their center to work in tandem with them to keep the game running smoothly. The Steelers are going to have to find a serviceable center if they are going to have any hopes of progressing in the postseason. 

What do you think about Cole's comments on the game? Would you rather see Herbig in at center? Click to comment below.

#SteelerNation