Though the Steelers still control their destiny, Cameron Heyward doesn’t want to leave anything to chance for their playoff hopes. He knows there are only six games to go, and Pittsburgh is heading in the wrong direction. Over their last six games, they have lost four times, and usually in concerning ways.
“The hourglass is going, and the sand is falling through”, Heyward said after the Steelers’ loss to the Bears on Sunday, a reflective remark quoted by Gerry Dulac in a recent article for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “There’s not a lot time for mistakes”.
The problem is the Steelers are full of mistakes, and Heyward has struggled to restrain his frustrations after recent losses. He has already had to walk back certain comments later after the dust settled, basically saying that he shouldn’t be asked these kinds of questions in the immediate aftermath of a game.
After the Steelers’ loss to the Bears, they are now tied with the Ravens at 6-5 at the top of the AFC North. The only difference is, whereas the Steelers are 2-4 in their last six games, the Ravens are on a five-game winning streak. They have held opponents to under 20 points in six consecutive games, something Pittsburgh has done three times all season.
The Steelers, of course, came into this season beating their chests about how great the defense would be. While not everything went according to plan, the reality is they have vastly, vastly underperformed relative to expectation. Heyward’s unit has really quite embarrassed itself, time and again, even while he has not. Even with a lack of sacks, he is actually having another very good year.
But others aren’t, and therein lies the problem. “We got to take care of our own business,”, Heyward said, via Dulac said. “We can’t look around”. Because if they do look around, they’ll see the Ravens waving to them as they pass them by.
The only thing the defense has done consistently this year is take the ball away, and even that requires a caveat. They went three straight games without one, and four out of five. But they have 10 takeaways in the past four games. They are 2-2, the record breaking evenly based on whether they won the turnover battle or not.
The Steelers offense turned the ball over to the Bears twice, and Chicago’s offense capitalized twice. The Steelers couldn’t stop them either time, allowing touchdown drives to follow. Another time when the Steelers turned the ball over on downs, the Bears responded with a touchdown drive there, as well.
All the Steelers need to do is go 4-2 the rest of the way, as long as their two losses aren’t to the Ravens. If they do that, they will guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs. Considering the scheduling coming up, though, that’s going to be a tough ask. And as Heyward said, time is slipping away for Pittsburgh to right this ship.
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