Frustrated Steelers Players Are Making It Easy To See Where Fingers Are Pointed: "Close To Having A Complete Jigsaw Puzzle"

The Pittsburgh Steelers have suffered three devastating losses back-to-back during 11 days. There are fair excuses to be made, including the compressed schedule and the quality of the teams they were playing. They also had numerous critical players out with injuries against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens. While they got most of those players back for the game against the Kansas City Chiefs, they were still missing Justin Fields, who was expected to be a part of a more innovative offense for these challenging games, and Joey Porter Jr. 

After the loss to the Chiefs on Christmas Day, players vented their frustration to the media. The Steelers have the most expensive defense in the NFL, so it is no surprise that they took a big hit from the media and fans for failing to stop their opponents. Patrick Queen said no one is doing anything about it, Cameron Heyward said they played like "s**t," Alex Highsmith said there isn't enough "want to," and TJ Watt said they all need to look in the mirror and get back to work. 

The overwhelming consensus from players seemed to be that most defensive players are doing their jobs, but some are not. Some are playing "hero ball" instead, trying to do too much and allowing plays to be made. While they wouldn't name any names, Ray Fittipaldo from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said it isn't hard to figure out who they are referring to, while a guest of The 93.7 The Fan's Pomp and Joe Show. 

"I don't think it's just one player," explained Fittipaldo. "But if you want to sit down and then look at the film and then look at who's talking and who's not talking, you can get pretty close to having a complete jigsaw puzzle when it's all said and done. You know, Cam Sutton looked like he left Travis Kelce all alone for that touchdown, no one within five yards. And then, after the game, Patrick Queen came out and pretty much spelled out that Minkah Fitzpatrick didn't get the check in time to get Xavier Worthy in the flat on the first touchdown. I think we have a pretty good idea of what's going on."

Fittipaldo added that they really have two games to clean up whatever is going wrong with the defense. They have the final regular season of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals and then their first playoff game.

Fortunately, the Steelers aren't relying on this final game to make the playoffs. They had already secured a berth during Week 15 despite the loss to the Eagles. However, they need to solve their issues to avoid repeating their usual pattern of losing in the first round of the playoffs.  

The Steelers' Offense Owns Some Of The Blame

While the defense deserves a big part of the blame, the offense should also own some. Receiver George Pickens seemed to quit on some plays, contributing to Russell Wilson being intercepted by Justin Reid. After the game, Calvin Austin III said he finds the Chiefs loss especially frustrating because it felt like they handed them the win.

Fittipaldo said that he feels as if the defense has struggled ever since the bye week, but it was more obvious against some of the best teams in the league. He thinks the defensive struggles have contributed to the offensive issues. As a former Super Bowl winner, Wilson knows what it takes to win, and Fittipaldo believes he is desperately trying to make something happen, but lacks the offensive support to make it happen. 

Who do you think the players are referring to? Click to comment below. 

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