The Pittsburgh Steelers gave their fans a ton of hope for the 2024 season. At one point, the offense looked the best it had in years while the defense was its usual, dominant self. That ended quickly. Going into Pittsburgh's Week 15 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Steelers had control in the AFC North and was on pace to host a playoff game in Pittsburgh for the first time since the 2020 season. Obviously, that didn't end up happening. The Steelers imploded and ended the season on a five-game losing streak.
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Steelers' Mike Tomlin looks on as his team loses another playoff game at the end of the 2024 season.
Amidst the losing streak, the defense for the Steelers was struggling tremendously, which isn't usually the case. There was some speculation about certain players not knowing their responsibilities and ruining the defense, which obviously stirred up some drama revolving the team. Pittsburgh was bounced from the postseason on Saturday by its division rival, the Baltimore Ravens. Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey spoke about the game on the most recent episode of his podcast, The Punch Line Podcast, and he implied that there are some underlying issues with Pittsburgh.
"The team, to me, if you look just based off of what very teeny bit I know and based off what I feel like I've seen, I feel like there's an underlying thing there somewhere internally that reminds me kind of the Jets' current situation," Humphrey said. "Sometimes when I see quotes from Jets players, it seems like they're trying to speak in code and there's something that they wanna say that they can't just say. There's a couple times I read Jets quotes from certain players and it's like, no one just wants to dog somebody or you really can't tell the media exactly what's going on. But it seems like how they kind of played in that game against us, and I know something that I ain't gonna say."
Humphrey probably has a decent amount of insight into the Steelers organization. He has played them twice a year his entire career, and he now has some friends and former teammates on the team. Humphrey played with both Patrick Queen and DeShon Elliott for a considerable amount of time, so it is fair to assume the three have kept up with one another.
AP Photo
Steelers' Patrick Queen chats with Ravens' Lamar Jackson after losing a playoff game at the end of the 2024 season.
Being compared to the New York Jets is never a good thing, they have consistently been arguably the worst organization in the sport over the last decade. The Steelers are at least somewhat competitive, but there has been some speculation about whether or not Mike Tomlin's voice has grown stale in recent years. He plays a big part in the organization, and is obviously the head coach, therefore he is to blame for a lot of the team's shortcomings.
It is hard to speculate what Humphrey might know about the Steelers that led him to compare them to the Jets, but it is obvious something is wrong in Pittsburgh. Something needs to change in the very near future in order for things to go differently in 2025.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike Tomlin in the snow against the Cleveland Browns during a loss in the 2024 season.
Steelers Don't Have Just One Clear Issue
It is hard to point to one thing with the Steelers that could fix the team moving forward. Everything seems to be an issue. The defense is the highest-paid unit in the league and consistently underperforms, the running game is atrocious, and Pittsburgh has no clear vision at quarterback. It is very difficult to be optimistic about the future of the organization when there are so many things that aren't at the standard they need to be.
The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since the 2016 season, and it doesn't seem like that drought will be ending anytime soon. Pittsburgh seems to be in NFL purgatory, which is no place to find success.
What do you think about Humphrey's comments? Let us know in the comments below!
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