The Steelers defense is the worst I’ve seen in 30 years. No communication. Lack of effort. Players scared of getting hit. Players afraid to get their jerseys dirty. They’re just an all around abysmal bunch of guys on that side of the ball. And don’t get me started on Thursday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, who were just returning their star running back Dalvin Cook who was forced him to wear a shoulder harness throughout the ball game after suffering a shoulder separation weeks ago. This was literally the first time in my lifetime where the Pittsburgh Steelers were dominated on both sides of the football. It was quite embarrassing. You could always bet on physicality from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last night that notion seemed to be false.
Interesting enough, the Vikings’ offensive coordinators must have seen how soft the Steelers defense was throughout the entire season and decided to roll the dice by playing Dalvin Cook and he proved them right rushing through the pillow-soft Steelers’ run defense for 205 yards, on 27 carries, with two touchdowns.
Cook not only averaged 7.6 yards an attempt coming off the shoulder separation, but made it look easy and effortless.
The Vikings, Bengals and Lions have all rushed for over 190 yards as a team versus the once Steel curtain. The defensive line got bullied last night. That’s the only way to put it.
The players look as if they aren’t being coached, as there seems to be a rift between the coaching staff and players. Regardless of T.J. Watt, potential defensive player of the year missing the second half, or Joe Haden missing in the secondary – the Steelers have an identity issue. The lack of urgency from this team is alarming.
Accountability
There is no situational awareness with the Steelers and this vibe has hung a grey cloud over this organization for several years. It started with former Steeler Antonio Brown’s “Facebook Living” speech on beating the Patriots, continued with Juju’s Tictok videos, and more recently Chase Claypool stating the team practices should have music to set the mood, which was followed by head coach Mike Tomlin stating Chase should allow the coaches to run practice.
This team makes more news off the field, than on the field. The Steelers are a selfish football team with too much egos and ‘look-at-me’ attitudes.
With a brutal schedule to end the season and last night’s loss the Steelers’ playoff hopes went from 33% to 10% – sitting at 6-6-1 in the AFC North. Yes, the Steelers are COOKED!