The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the better teams this decade. They have won two Super Bowls and been to three, and have had some great talent on their team. They seemed to be on pace for another top-four finish in the AFC, as they were had a comfortable lead in the AFC North. They then entered their toughest stretch of the season, and are failing badly.
Three weeks ago, the Steelers traveled to the Mile High City for a matchup with the Denver Broncos. While they had some highlight reel plays, like a 97-yard touchdown and fake field goal, they looked terrible on defense. Un-drafted back Phillip Lindsay ran all over the Steelers for over 150 yards and two scores. The Steelers lost that week on a costly Ben Roethlisberger interception. It was during this game where the Steelers truly missed Le'veon Bell to ice the game by protecting the ball.
Then, two weeks ago, the Steelers played the Los Angeles Chargers on a prime-time matchup. They were in control for most of the game, but crumbled in the second half, blowing a 16 point lead. The Steelers seemed terribly coached and once again, missed Le'veon Bell to put the game away.
Finally, last week, the Steelers had an easy game against the Oakland Raiders before a rough two-game stretch against the Patriots and Saints. However, the Steelers did not have James Conner and did not run the ball at all. The defense surrendered way too many points to a depleted Raiders offense and eventually lost on a missed field goal where Chris Boswell slipped.
The Steelers desperately need to get their act together soon, or else they could miss the playoffs. If they drop the next two games, in which they are both underdogs in, the Steelers would stand at 7-7-1. Meanwhile, the Ravens are likely to finish with a 9-7 record. Even if the Steelers beat the Bengals in their last week, they would have been knocked out off a top-four spot and might be overtaken by the Titans, Colts, or Dolphins.
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