I suppose if you are the Pittsburgh Steelers and you aren’t going to make the playoffs you might as well go out removing any doubt if they deserved to be there. Pittsburgh completely collapsed on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens and finished off an ugly season with an ugly loss.
Here are our three big takeaways from the loss.
This defense was tired of trying to carry the offense
By the second offensive drive of the Ravens, you could already see the fatigue on the Steelers defense. This was partially to do with the 7+ minute drive the Ravens put together on their opening drive followed by a 44-second three-and-out by the Steelers offense, parking them right back on the field.
But more than that you can tell there was emotional fatigue set in all game long from a defense who was just tired of trying to pick up after an inept offense.
This offense is worse than the coaching can overcome
During the course of the season we saw this team deal with a ridiculous amount of injuries on the offensive side of the football. But with many members of the core of the offense healthy, it was easy to pass off a good portion of the ineptitude off on poor coaching. But at this point, it really felt like this unit is just too woefully undertalented and undermotivated for even the best coaching to get anything out of.
It’s probably best this team didn’t make the playoffs
False hope is still hope. No one really thought the Steelers could make a playoff push if things did fall their way on Sunday, so why have the false hope? This team is going to make some significant changes on offense this offseason. Staying out of the playoffs for a second straight season gives everyone a clearer picture of where this team is in terms of potential and what must be done.
