A brutal Wild Card loss caps off a disappointing season for the Pittsburgh Steelers after finishing a promising year with a five-game losing skid. The Baltimore Ravens were clearly the better team Saturday night and put up over 300 yards against the Steelers' defense in the first half. Pittsburgh's offense got off to its usual slow start, which doesn't come as a surprise as it has been the standard for multiple seasons now. Usually, teams start to get hot in December to bring over momentum into the playoffs, but the Steelers did the complete opposite.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Russell Wilson looks to throw against the Ravens in Week 16 of the 2024 regular season.
After Russell Wilson came in as the starter in Week 7, the decision by Head Coach Mike Tomlin seemed to be the right one. Wilson was playing well and leading the team to win after win. The Steelers started to be in talks of being one of the top teams in the AFC; everything was going right for them. The saying of "all good things must come to an end" came true after five straight disappointing and embarrassing losses to end the season.
During the losing streak in the regular season, the media started to take back claims of the Steelers being a team to beat a team like the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. Pittsburgh was marked as potential frauds and overrated after a strong start to the season. After Saturday's game on Amazon Prime Video, Taylor Rooks spoke with Najee Harris postgame and she revealed that the locker room felt the outside noise during the end of the regular season.
"I think the most interesting comments came from a visibly frustrated, but candid Najee Harris, who said that the guys have been saying things in the locker room that he didn’t necessarily want to say on camera, but that he felt like throughout the losing streak, a lot of guys were letting what the media was saying infiltrate the locker room and he wanted to see how they responded today," Rooks said.
Players didn't look to be on the same page the last few weeks and the comments from Harris seem to clear some things up. The Steelers' locker room is known for letting a lot of problems stay within, so Harris' comments come at a surprise that he gave a look into what the locker room was going through during the losing streak.
When a team starts listening to the media, leaders in the locker room need to step up and not let it define the team. The media will always have its criticism and takes, but it's a team's job to prove them and the fans wrong. Harris seemed to have hope the Steelers would squash the negative comments, but that didn't happen. They proved the critics right.
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Steelers' defense prepares for a play against the Ravens in a Wild Card matchup in 2025.
Some leaders may come under fire for this. Players like Cameron Heyward and TJ Watt are known to lead the defense, but they are rarely seen on the sideline talking or yelling at guys to get things going. It's not known if they do this off camera, but it'd be nice to see more passion from players like them on the sidelines. Tomlin also needs to step in to quiet the outside noise so his team doesn't feel lost.
It's disappointing to hear these comments from Harris. There's many reasons for the Steelers losing their last five games and it can get hard on a team, but what the media says can't influence how a player or a locker room acts. A lot needs to be done this offseason, but the team needs to stick together in tough times like this.
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Steelers' Najee Harris during pregame in a Wild Card matchup against the Ravens in 2025.
Steelers' Harris Has His Future In Pittsburgh Up In The Air
When Harris was drafted in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft, there were high hopes from the running back out of the University of Alabama. Harris has had four consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, which is a great accomplishment. However, he's not known for the explosive plays and with Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith coming in with a new offense, the Steelers didn't pick up Harris' fifth-year option.
Harris doesn't know if he'll be in Pittsburgh for the 2025 season and with not a great finish to the season for him, the Steelers may decide to stick with Jaylen Warren and let Harris go. It would be tough to see him go as he's a great personality on the team, but sometimes these tough decisions need to be made.
What do you think of Harris' comments after the game? Let us know in the comments!
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