The Pittsburgh Steelers allowed the second-worst offense in professional football to score 21 points in the first half of Week 14. Bailey Zappe and the New England Patriots spread out the Steelers' defense and exploited what was left of the Pittsburgh middle linebackers. It was the second time in less than a week that the Steelers fell hopelessly behind a 10-loss team.
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Steelers Mike Tomlin looks on as he loses another home game to a ten-loss team.
Mike Tomlin's failure is complete. Bill Belichick, who was under heavy fire for the season that the Patriots were having, somehow managed to outmaneuver Tomlin and Teryl Austin's defense and score 21 points with three wide receivers, the backup quarterback, and a running back who was considered washed-up at the end of 2022.
After the game, the Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football panel was aghast at the results. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Richard Sherman and Andrew Whitworth took turns ripping the Steelers offense. Sherman kicked off the festivities with the obvious question.
"What is going on in Pittsburgh," Sherman asked incredulously. "Mitchell Trubisky, do you not like George Pickens? Do you have a vendetta against him? I don't get it cause you throw it to Diontae Johnson on multiple vertical routes. You can't seem to find George Pickens on a vertical route? It's not like he doesn't exist. I don't understand. Maybe GloRilla needs to be their quarterback coach."
This should have been a huge game for George Pickens. The Patriots played cover one most of the night, daring Trubisky to throw deep. He did to Diontae Johnson and Allen Robinson. Pickens' only targets came on hitches and screens. Fitzpatrick, who expressed frustration at halftime that Trubisky wasn't targeting Pickens, chimed in after Charissa Thompson prompted him.
"Tony [Gonzalez], I don't know how much you experienced this in your career. I'm sure guys were targeting you all the time," Fitzpatrick said to the Hall of Fame tight end. "There is some growth that needs to be seen by George Pickens with attitude and everything else. But I mean, we're all frustrated. They finally isolated him, but then he was catching hitches, or he wasn't getting looked at. The fourth down play on the goal line, it looked like they were going to double him. He ran the fade; it was one-on-one. What more could you ask for? Put the ball up."
Sherman and Fitzpatrick both identified one of the biggest mysteries in the NFL. Why does Pittsburgh refuse to exploit Pickens? It is one thing if defenses are shifting players to double-team him, but the Patriots single-covered him almost exclusively. At some point, you would think Mike Sullivan and Eddie Faulkner would say to Trubisky, "throw it to 14 until they change the coverage." The Steelers decision-makers on offense refused to adjust on Thursday night.
"You're ready to flip tables because you can beat Baltimore somehow," Sherman interjected. "You can beat the Baltimore Ravens, one of the best teams in football. But you can't beat New England? The problem is you don't even try to get the ball to one of your best playmakers. I thought maybe once you got rid of Canada, maybe George Pickens is going to be a factor and then somehow you still don't get him the ball even in situations where you know he should be getting it."
Sherman's rant about the total misuse of Pickens is on the mark. He is a huge target, and if the Steelers insist on throwing go routes, why not target the best player you have at running them? It has been a source of frustration for nearly two seasons now by the fan base. Can Pickens be immature and pout on the sidelines? Yes. Does he have a good reason? Absolutely.
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Steelers are ignoring George Pickens, according to Richard Sherman.
Whitworth, who was an All-Pro tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, took a different approach. He openly criticized the Steelers for not addressing the simple mistakes that started in the Arizona Cardinals game and continued during the embarrassing loss to the Patriots.
"Here's your chance. If you are going to make some kind of resurgence, you've gotta figure it out," Whitworth said. "It's continued to be sloppy. That's the biggest problem I have: not targeting one of your best players. The low snaps. We can't line up correctly on offense two weeks in a row. That's simple football you learn in training camp. You can't have these simple mistakes in December if you want to be a football team that wants to go to the playoffs."
Pittsburgh went from a 7-4 team in control of their destiny to a 7-6 team that will likely be on the outside looking in by the end of Week 14. The Steelers must likely win, at a minimum, three of their four remaining games to have any chance at the playoffs. Tony Gonzalez asked the rest of the panel if they thought the Steelers could make the playoffs.
"I don't even have to look at the schedule, I think they have no chance" Fitzpatrick replied. "They were sitting at 7-4, and everyone was saying it's a Mike Tomlin team, they just win. The law of averages, they were going to fall down. The interesting thing is this Pittsburgh team can beat anybody. They really can. They can also lose to anybody, as we saw."
The Steelers can win their final four games to finish 11-6 and make the playoffs. They could just as easily lose all four and finish 7-10, ending Tomlin's consecutive streak of winning seasons. The worst-case scenario for Steeler Nation is that Tomlin finds a way to win two games and gets to 9-8, while they miss the playoffs. In 2022, finishing with nine wins after starting 2-6 was impressive; in 2023, collapsing to 9-8 would be catastrophic.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation.com (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin seems to be seeing a different reality than the rest of us, considering his excuses for the 2023 Steelers so far
The biggest issue would be that the national media would laud him for somehow finding a way to eke out another winning season. It will be quickly forgotten that they dropped consecutive home games to 10-loss teams. We should all desperately root for a finishing record of 11-6 and nothing less.
Steelers' Tomlin Will Still Be Defended By National Media
After the Week 13 loss to the Cardinals and the second consecutive debacle in Acrisure Stadium by Tomlin and the Steelers, the national media is going to start running low on excuses for the Steelers' Head Coach. The Tomlin apology tours should be over on ESPN, Fox Sports, and the NFL Network. Rich Eisen should apologize for scolding Pittsburgh earlier this week after a second "Tomlin" game. However, it probably would not be wise to hold our breath.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Is Fitzpatrick right that the Steelers have no chance of making the playoffs in 2023? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq.
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