It’s a new season.
And that, people, pretty much sums up the good news for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they stumble into the NFL playoffs with the funk of a four-game losing streak.
New season? Nobody can spin the bright side of that anything-can-happen challenge better than Russell Wilson, All-Pro optimist, embracing amnesia as a tool with a trip to Baltimore looming.
“When you get into the playoffs, everybody is 0-0,” the veteran quarterback said after the Saturday night setback. “You’ve got to beat everybody, anyway. That’s got to be our focus right now. It’s been a tough few weeks, obviously.”
Nice try. Tough might be an understatement. And not all versions of 0-0 were created equally. The sixth-seeded Steelers (10-7) are the first team since the 1986 New York Jets to win at least 10 games but enter the playoffs with a losing streak of at least four games.
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The thought of the Steelers suddenly flicking on the switch for the opening of the playoffs on Saturday night against the Ravens (8 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime) represents a lot of wishful thinking, given what has been seen lately.
While Pittsburgh’s defense lost its big-play mojo and allowed an average of more than 27 points per game during the slump, the once-formidable offense has been a debacle. The Steelers didn’t score more than 17 points in any of the four losses, when they produced a total of four touchdowns.
Blame and drastic patterns cut across the board. Turnovers. Dropped passes. Short-yardage woes. Questionable strategy employed by offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Pass protection breakdowns. George Pickens.
After the 19-17 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night, coach Mike Tomlin lamented the inability of his offense to make routine plays. That would include the failure to convert on third- and fourth-and-1 plays during one sequence – which used to fall in line with Pittsburgh’s physical identity.
“If you can’t get a yard, you don’t deserve to win,” Tomlin said, offering a mantra he has expressed repeatedly over the years.
Of course, he’s right about this. But they muffed multiple opportunities for big chunk plays, too. On the last snap, a fourth-down chance to perhaps set up for a last-second field goal try from ace kicker Chris Boswell, tight end Pat Freiermuth ran a slant and dropped a seemingly perfect throw. And Freiermuth was the most reliable target all night.
Pickens, the most prolific playmaker for the bulk of the season, was another type of issue. On top of his stat line – zero yards on one catch, three drops – he was seen being corralled by a teammate on the sideline as he apparently shouted toward someone in the home crowd.
What a bad look. Yet it’s hardly a surprise now, coming from a third-year pro who has repeatedly demonstrated hot-headed tendencies that can drain energy, disrupt focus and cost his team in myriad ways. Wilson, again, publicly defended Pickens after the game, obviously mindful of the alternative.
“He’s been a star for us all season,” Wilson said, adding that the three games Pickens missed with a hamstring injury disrupted rhythm. “He’s going to be a difference-maker for us in the playoffs. I’m looking forward to that, and what he can do and what we can do together. I’m not blinking on George. If anybody believes in him, I definitely do.”
Go ahead, Russ. Speak it into existence. And while you’re at it, it wouldn’t hurt to talk up the need for the offense to get into gear from the start of the games.
For months, it was a given that the Steelers’ substance as a playoff threat would be revealed during a grueling stretch run. After trips to Philadelphia and Baltimore, the Steelers closed at home against Kansas City and Cincinnati. That’s three division champs and a red-hot team that barely missed the playoffs while finishing with a five-game winning streak.
No, that never looked easy. But the Steelers never led at any point in any of the four games. The first-half deficits had a certain symmetry: 17-3, 17-7, 13-0, 10-0.
For all of the benefits of complementary football the Steelers enjoyed in building a 10-3 record and two-game lead in the AFC North, the offense was wrapped in a distinct red flag during the four-game skid. The loss at Philadelphia began with three consecutive three-and-outs, then the next three games began with three-and-outs on the opening series. During the four-game skid, the Steelers had a total of 2 net yards on their four game-opening possessions. Pathetic.
Talk about lacking momentum. That pattern that Pittsburgh takes into the playoffs has dots connected to the sluggish starts. This certainly raises the heat on Smith, the former Atlanta Falcons coach whose game-opening scripts have been a disaster.
When someone asked Wilson about the pattern, he replied, “I don’t really want to talk about the past. We’ve been here for a while.”
Of course, what’s happened in the recent past doesn’t bode well for the challenge against a hot Ravens squad (12-5) carrying the opposite flow with a four-game winning streak. On the visit to M&T Bank Stadium in Week 16, a scrambling Wilson fumbled at the Ravens’ 4-yard line in the second quarter, swinging the momentum of a tie game. Then, down 24-17 early in fourth quarter, his pick-six to Marlon Humphrey essentially sealed the 34-17 result.
It’s no wonder Wilson doesn’t want to dwell on the past.
“We’ve got to have amnesia going into this,” Wilson said. “Just win the next play. Win the next game. We’ve got to have the best week we can possibly have this week.”
Tomlin certainly doesn’t have amnesia. As much as he’d like to forget some of lowlights of recent weeks, he won’t run from a reality check.
“I don’t know if you go clean slate,” he said. “You’d better learn from these lessons. We’re a mentally tough group. It’s OK to learn from these lessons and to remember the things that created this. Because there’s nothing mystical about it. That’s going to be my mentality and that’s what I’m going to relate to the guys.”
Tomlin, in his 18th season, has extended his streak of never having a losing season as the Steelers coach. But that impressive feat is bogged down by the playoff results. A franchise that displays six Lombardi Trophies hasn’t won a postseason game since 2016.
Wilson was brought to Pittsburgh to help change that. And after Tomlin made the switch from Justin Fields in Week 7, it seemed like the jolt Wilson added with his veteran savvy and knack to connect on the deep “moonshot” passes were essential elements. The franchise’s best quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger fueled hope for a long-denied deep playoff run.
Now it’s just about survival in a different context. Maybe a trip to Charm City will spark some certain flashbacks for another edition of one of the NFL’s most intense rivalries. Before the blowout in the last meeting, the Steelers had answers in winning eight of the previous nine matchups against the Ravens dating to 2020, which included a 4-0 mark against Lamer Jackson during that span.
Yet that last matchup, with Jackson aligned with Derrick Henry, meant something, too. Unless you’ve got amnesia.
New season? That can be viewed as half-full for the Steelers…or almost empty.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell on X @JarrettBell.
