Can Steelers Escape Their Tendency To Play Down To Opponents In 2023?

Tradition defines the Pittsburgh Steelers; the Terrible Towel, the Rooney family, Renegade, and the Steel Curtain are memories, experiences, or terms that Steelers fans are raised on. Sometimes, though, traditions aren't always the uplifting moments that we all look forward to. Some are short-lived, but just as impactful (the inability for the Killer B's - Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le'Veon Bell - to all be healthy for the playoffs), others are really neither here nor there, but are still a matter of pride (Mike Tomlin's streak of non-losing seasons), however, others become a specter hanging over moments that should be easier; the Steelers mind-numbing consistency of playing down to their opponents.

Steelers lower their own bar

If you have watched the Steelers for a while, you probably have your pick of the games in which Pittsburgh entered with the odds leaning very much to their side, yet left with a demoralizing loss devoid of reason. When the 2018 season kicked off with a painful tie involving the Cleveland Browns and starting quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, the cloud of underwhelming performances against lesser teams continued.

A 0-0-1 record is embarrassing, but the tradition has hit much harder, such as the loss in January of 2011 to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos that tore the hearts out of every Steelers fan watching, or the two losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017 that included a regular season stomping and a playoff upset. Some fans even include the brutal Super Bowl XLV loss at the hands of the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers. (the Steelers were the better team on paper by far, with the Roethlisberger interceptions and game-breaking fumble by Rashard Mendenhall getting the brunt of the blame).

No matter which game brings that unique mix of heartache and frustration right back to your mind, the Steelers have been unable to shake the burdensome cloud. There were seasons when the overall talent on the team and staff overcame the dropped games to "lesser opponents," but it never really went away and during transitional, on-the-ledge seasons like 2022 was for Pittsburgh, those dropped games suddenly become a glaring issue rather than something to shrug off.

Steelers' ghosts robbed them in 2022

For all the disappointing themes that surrounded last season, there were plenty of positives to find hope in despite a lack of playoff football. Tomlin navigated the team from a bottom-dwelling midseason spot into a position that had them one game away from a playoff berth, Kenny Pickett showed inspired growth throughout the year and had several prove-it games that truly displayed what he can bring to the table, but when the final whistle blew, the Steelers were still watching the postseason from their respective couches.

For all the talk of the way the Steelers finished the season (7-2 after a dismal start) when a campaign with such momentum built up towards the latter half of the season ends in that sudden way, it makes it difficult to find moral victories. That process of acceptance becomes all the more challenging when you start to look closely at some of the losses and realize that the veil between the postseason and a long offseason was as thin as a single game. Perhaps it would be easier to sigh and move on from those losses if they had been solely due to the brutally-impactful loss of TJ Watt, but two games that could have been swing moments for the season ended up being more missed opportunities.

First, let's do that painful but necessary zoom-in on the ones that got away during Watt's absence.

Painful days without Watt defined by Canada

After losing Watt to a scary injury in the victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh needed to lift their spirits with a win against the hated New England Patriots. A dismal offense wasted an efficient defensive performance as the Steelers found themselves only trailing by 3 points in the final quarter, but two three-and-out series from a Mitch Trubisky-led offense handed the ball to the Patriots who used over six and a half minutes of clock to end the game. The 14-17 loss didn't seem to matter too much as it only brought the Steelers' record to 1-1, but the chance was there and the team whiffed on the swing.

Week 7 brought two quarterbacks to the matchup that were each coming off their own concussion experiences, the Steelers with Kenny Pickett and the Miami Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa. A proud Steelers defense took to the task of covering the WR combo of Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill (both held without a touchdown and neither surpassed 100 receiving yards), but the tone-deaf plays called throughout the game by Pittsburgh's OC, Matt Canada, had the Steelers trailing the Dolphins by six in the second half but chance after chance fell harmlessly to the side as Miami didn't need to score a single point in the final two quarters for them to come away with a win. 

Pittsburgh punted five times in the last 30 minutes, two consecutive Pickett interceptions, and a 4th down attempt that can again be placed at the incapable doorstep of Canada had the Steelers unable to score either. The 10-16 loss put the Steelers at a woeful 2-5, and there were certainly growing pains to be endured in the Dolphins game by Pickett, but the spotlight never moved from the incredible consistency that Canada had in the inept calls that, by the sad fourth down try near the end, even the players' energy displayed a frustration that can't help but translate into performance.

Two games at very different times in the season, each had a stage set for Pittsburgh to claw out a win despite their defensive MVP injured, a QB-concussion merry-go-round between Trubisky (the backup) and Pickett (the concussed starter), and Canada's determination to call whatever play the Twister spinner lands on. Two games, two losses; the veil of a single game could have been crossed in either one, but the mixture of tradition and Canada sank the ships.

Frustrations continue despite Watt's return

The two games the Steelers lost during the games after Watt's return from a pectoral injury had multiple levels of importance, making the losses sting all the more.

When Pittsburgh hosted the Bengals in Week 11, the Steelers were building some momentum after a win against the New Orleans Saints the week before plus getting former Defensive Player of the Year in Watt. To add to the positives on Pittsburgh's bulletin board, there was an injury to star Bengals receiver, Ja'Marr Chase, that would keep him from playing in the matchup. A 3-6 record was starting to feel a bit better now that Watt had returned, but when the Steelers needed their highly-paid and talented secondary to step up, another missed chance found its way in.

Prior to the Bengals game, the Steelers hadn't scored more than 23 points (no more than 20 since Week 1), so when the offense found a way around Canada's gameplan to score 30 points, the hope was that their defense would hold firm and take advantage of a weakened Cincinnati team. Instead, despite Pickett turning in a game without an interception, two touchdowns by Najee Harris, and an 83-yard performance with a score by George Pickens, the defense set WR2, Tee Higgins, loose to the tune of 148 yards. When Higgins wasn't exploring every nook and cranny in the Steelers' defense, Bengals running back, Samaje Perine, was scoring three touchdowns. The opponent was less than they usually were, and the momentum was on the side of the Steelers, but they were unable to rise above and instead held true to tradition.

Following the loss to Cincinnati, there was a single misstep for the remainder of the season, but when the hole is as deep as Pittsburgh's had been dug, one game is all it takes. No other game speaks to the frustrating tendency of the Steelers to play down to their opponent as the Week 14 loss to their bitter rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. The stars in the NFL sky were slowly starting to line up for the Steelers as they began to begin a slow, pained crawl out from the hole they were in. Baltimore was as battered and shaky a team as they may have been for years; star Ravens' quarterback, Lamar Jackson, was injured, and starting running back J.K. Dobbins would be testing a surgically repaired knee for the first time since it was injured nearly two years prior, and a raucous Heinz Field was eagerly waiting for the limping Ravens to hand the Steelers a much-needed victory in both the AFC and division.

When the dust settled, the Steelers had failed in every aspect of what they had set out to do that day. Baltimore had won 14-16, despite the Ravens' backup quarterback, Tyler Huntley, leaving in the second half with a concussion that brought in third-stringer, Anthony Brown. Dobbins tore through the Steelers' defense for 120 yards and a touchdown, Brown was steady and never turned the ball over, and Trubisky (Pickett was injured) threw three interceptions on a day when a D- grade would have been enough to win. 

Everything about the loss hurt worse than any other one would have because it was an embarrassing outing for a team that seemed to be learning how to win again. Even against Baltimore, a hamstrung, unstable team that was truly struggling to find any identity at that time, the Steelers couldn't rise above and muster a mediocre showing, instead falling to the turf with barely a whisper.

How to avoid a Steelers tradition in 2023

For the first time since the "tradition" began, it seems as though the Steelers are recognizing the factors that play into those awful losses at the worst possible times. Granted, the retention of Canada is a slap in the face to every other forward move, but the road has to begin somewhere.

Being talented but thin played into the tradition in the past, so this year depth was a huge focus by bringing in players that can be multifunctional when the call needs to be answered (Isaac Seumalo on the offensive line and Breiden Fehoko on the defensive line). Letting secondary players dictate a game is exactly what happened to the secondary on multiple occasions in 2022, so the signing of Patrick Peterson and Keanu Neal, plus the likely addition of both a cornerback and safety in the NFL Draft, shows a serious attitude shift in how the Steelers handle their defensive secondary. 

I fully expect Khan and the front office to go into the upcoming NFL Draft with the same focus and aggressive intent that they have shown throughout the offseason. They have dynamically altered the entire energy of what a Pittsburgh offseason is, and with that new approach comes the hope that all this will culminate in the tradition being replaced by a deep, versatile team that can adapt and play up to whoever they are matched against.

Of course, there's still Canada, so we will see how the power struggle between a fruitful new team attitude and a stubborn, unimaginative coordinator plays out. I'm rooting for a new tradition, though!