Steelers Ship Has Sunk

The Pittsburgh Steelers season has hit rock bottom, with the playoffs looking too familiar.

Jan 4, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens (14) drops a pass as he is defended by Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt (29) during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- The moment the Cleveland Browns left Acrisure Stadium in Week 14, so did the Pittsburgh Steelers. And as they head into the playoffs on a four-game skid, no one knows if they're ever coming back.

Over the last four games, the Steelers have found no success. None. And as each loss past, the reactions became stronger, only to get to the Bengals, where the noise reached a max, and everyone seemingly gave up on the belief that this team was capable of doing much of anything - or beating anyone involved in the playoffs.

At first, there were questions about if everyone was overreacting. Those questions have disappeared. Now, it's about trying to find out what exactly is wrong, and if it can be corrected.

Let's run through some stats:

• In the last 10 games, the Steelers have turned the ball over at least once. That's highlighted by quarterback Russell Wilson, who has thrown five interceptions and fumbled five times this season.

• The Steelers have finished the regular season 0-17 on opening drives, not scoring a touchdown on their first possession the entire 2024 campaign.

• They started the season 5-0 against winning teams. They ended it 5-4. Wilson is 2-4.

Pittsburgh is expected to make their second-biggest decision this offseason, which follows their biggest decision last offseason. Mike Tomlin received a three-year contract extension despite not winning a playoff game in seven years. This spring, they're believed to be ready to pay Wilson a hefty contract, keeping the 36-year-old quarterback around for several years.

Both have arguments in agreement. Both have arguments against the decision. The loudest being their 0-4 collapse to close out the regular season, where they failed to score over 17 points in any contest, gave up the lead in the AFC North, and fell from the third seed in the conference to (potentially) the sixth.

They now (most likely) head to Baltimore to take on the Ravens for a third time in the Wild Card round.

The Steelers are no longer a team one can believe in. There's no evidence to say you should. They're a ship that has sunk behind poor coaching, questionable and frustrating play-calling on both sides of the ball, and, at times, no execution at all.

How do they fix it? Or can they? No one knows. They'll try, and while their options are limited, they aren't empty. They could make a quarterback change and put Justin Fields in, or switch up their personnel groups on defense. They can always adjust their gameplan on either side of the ball to try and eliminate plays that clearly have not looked - like the pitch.

At the end of the day, though, it's tough to imagine anything changing in a week. And right now, heading into the postseason, it feels almost certain the Steelers walk into the "dance" and walk out of it with another first round loss.

Pittsburgh's ship has sunk.

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