ORCHARD PARK (NY) — His uniform is still on. Najee Harris sat in his locker in the visitor’s dressing room at Highmark Stadium more than 30 minutes after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 38-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Beside him, coach Mike Tomlin sat in an empty locker, talking in a hushed tone to his second-year running back as Harris’ head hung low.
Cornerbacks were used in the past. Arthur Maulet The locker room was filled with his loudest challenges to his teammates. He asked no one in particular if he truly loved the game.
The defensive captain is across the hall Cameron Heyward stood in front of a podium and called the loss a “dark day.”
After dropping their fourth straight game — they’re a blocked point-after away from being winless — the Steelers’ locker room was unmoored and unglued in the aftermath of the worst loss in franchise history since a 51-0 opening week loss to the Cleveland Browns 1989
“You can’t kick your own ass,” Heyward said. “And that’s what we’re doing right now.”
Sunday was supposed to be around Kenny Pickett Making his first career start, but it was instead overshadowed by a display of all the flaws that had been simmering just below the surface for the first four weeks.
Josh Allen His offensive weapons exploited cracks and twisted a knife into the seam to further fracture it.
For all the promise Pickett represents for the future, even his spark can’t fix all that ails this team. He’s someone with an attitude and a swagger to rally around, but even that might not be enough to save this season.
The frustration the Steelers felt in the visitor’s locker room at Highmark Stadium on Sunday followed them to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Monday.
Wide receiver was asked a question about how to shut out noise. Diontae Johnson He laughed as he suggested that fans could get out and support the team. And he took issue with former Steeler and ESPN analyst Ryan Clark calling out the Steelers’ effort in the 38-3 loss.
“Y’all got so much to say,” Johnson said. “Y’all can say what y’all want, but y’all don’t know what it’s like to go to work with us every day. You can put your blood, sweat, and tears into what we do. So y’all can say what all y’all want, but the real fans that really know what we do, and I appreciate them.”
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Ryan Clark expressed his dismay at the Steelers’ loss to the Bills.
Cornerback Cam SuttonHe was usually upbeat and thoughtfully detailed in his answers but he was quiet and concise when approached to interview at his locker.
“It’s not about what we say,” Sutton said. “I know it’s not about me. I know you guys ask me lots of questions. Here’s what I think we should do. It’s all about us playing f—ing soccer. Excuse me for my English. But that’s just what it comes down to.”
Perhaps without realizing it, Johnson diagnosed the origin of the Steelers’ problems in the aftermath of the Week 4 loss to the N.Y. Jets.
“Obviously, it’s a rebuilding year,” Johnson told reporters in the locker room after the loss. “We can’t use that as an excuse. It doesn’t matter who is at quarterback or any position. It’s our job to get it done and win games. That’s what we have to do — win.”
But the Steelers aren’t in the business of rebuilding. They simply don’t do it.
With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as their head, the Steelers have been the embodiment of consistency for nearly two decades. They were always at the forefront of the postseason conversation. Any less than a Super Bowl was unacceptable to a Steelers fanbase who witnessed or heard the stories about the dominance of the 1970s, early Roethlisberger years.
The Steelers aren’t supposed to rebuild. They’re supposed to reload and keep winning. However, dominoes in the past few years have changed that.
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Adam Schefter discusses T.J. Watt’s delay in returning the Steelers to him after sustaining injury.
There were as many solid moves made by the Steelers as drafting T.J. Watt And Pat Freiermuth Trading a pick in the first round Minkah Fitzpatrick There were many more moves that could have been made, both planned and unintentionally, to undermine the once-solid franchise.
Roethlisberger kept Steelers in limbo, with a long-drawn retirement that he shook hands with for years. The Steelers waited to draft their next quarterback until Roethlisberger was gone. Tomlin promoted — and stuck with — Matt Canada after a short stint as the Steelers’ quarterbacks coach and an underwhelming first season as an NFL coordinator. Inside linebacker Devin BushSteelers traded for him to draft in 2019. However, Ryan Shazier has yet to fulfill his potential as a replacement for Ryan Shazier after tearing the ACL in 2020. Defensive end Stephon Tuitt retired suddenly after missing an entire season in the aftermath of his brother’s tragic death. Versatile defensive back Mike Hilton Free agency was available to them. The old guard of offensive linemen retired or moved on in the span of two years, and the Steelers’ drafted and signed replacements haven’t found the same success as the stalwart units that protected Roethlisberger for most of his career.
The Steelers are now 1-4 to begin the season, their second consecutive four-season streak and only one year after starting the season 1-3. There’s pieces of a good team: a reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in Watt, a stalwart defensive lineman in Heyward, a promising young quarterback in Pickett. But there’s also numerous holes and a severe lack of depth across the defense, a talent depletion on the offensive line and an offensive coordinator that isn’t putting the Steelers’ offensive skill players — their deepest and best assets — in the best position to break the difference-making explosive plays.
“We’ve got to know that there’s going to be better days, not to provide or to seek comfort, but knowing that there’s better days is going to be borne out of our commitment to making sure that there’s better days,” Tomlin said Sunday. “That’s what I talked to the team about. It’s not good where we are right now. As professionals, we understand it. It is ours. It is what it is, man.”
The Steelers are currently rebuilding.
“It’s obviously adversity,” Sutton said. “Just a situation that we have control of having a better outcome out of it. It’s not a scenario that we [saw] We are in it or want to be there. But we’re not just gonna sit here and dwell in it either. One week at a. Plenty of ball left ahead of us, but we’ve just gotta buckle down and get things done.”
Tomlin is known for never losing a season as a coach since he took over the franchise back in 2007. However, this streak may soon be in jeopardy and it could be too late to make the changes that the team needs.
“You play like we played today, you’ve got to be open to doing whatever is required to change the outcome of these games,” Tomlin said Sunday. “That’s a given. I don’t think anybody is going to be surprised by our willingness to turn over whatever stone to change the outcomes of games like what transpired today. That’s just appropriate.”