The Pittsburgh Steelers’ season has been a bit of a rollercoaster so far. After a hot start that saw them sitting at 4-1 on the year, the Steelers have proceeded to lose four of their last six games and now sit at 6-5 on the season, and behind the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.
What once looked like a promising year has now gone off the tracks. It continued last Sunday at Soldier Field in the Week 12 matchup with the Chicago Bears. The Steelers held a lead at halftime and then proceeded to fall apart in the second half, resulting in a frustrating 31-28 loss.
Now, things get even harder for the men in the Black and Gold as the Buffalo Bills, led by 2024 NFL MVP Josh Allen, come to town for a post-Thanksgiving clash. There doesn’t seem to be much hope in the city, but none of that matters for the players inside the locker room.
For long snapper Christian Kuntz, he believes the Steelers haven’t played a full four-quarter game yet, and when they do they could turn things around.
“Yeah, we talked about it last week. Like, we legitimately haven’t played a full game yet,” Kuntz said of the Steelers, according to video via his podcast’s YouTube page. “I know teams at least have played a full game where they come out and they just whoop somebody and they’re like, ‘wow, we played dominant on offense, defense and teams.
“We just haven’t done that yet.”
That was largely the case in Chicago against the Bears, too. The Steelers started the game off well, shaking off an interception from backup quarterback Mason Rudolph on the second play from scrimmage to eventually hold a 14-7 lead thanks to a huge T.J. Watt strip-sack in the end zone, leading to a Nick Herbig fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Things were looking up, especially after the 55-yard Kenneth Gainwell run on the fake tush push. But in the second half, things fell apart. Again, the Steelers didn’t play a full four quarters.
“We are coming in off a tough loss in Chicago to a good team, a game I felt we should have won. Should have won,” Kuntz aded regarding the loss. “I thought we were better than them. I thought early in the game when T.J. [Watt] had that strip-sack, I was like, ‘it’s gonna be one of those days.’ I was like, ‘this is it.’ But man, the NFL’s crazy. You guys know, every week’s different.”
Every week is largely different, but for the Steelers it feels like the same song and dance every week, especially in losses. The defense can’t get enough stops, the offense isn’t able to consistently put together performances, or there’s something going wrong on special teams.
In the second half against the Bears, all of that came together. That’s been the story of these season for the Steelers. The second-half collapse against the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, the ugly showing in Week 10 against the Los Angeles Chargers, and then the blown second-half lead against the Bears.
It’s just more and more examples of the Steelers not playing a full four quarters. Teams strive to play complete games week after week, but very few find ways to do it. The Steelers are one of those teams that hasn’t found a way to do that, even in wins, too.
Maybe they’ll figure that out late in the season. Odds are though, it won’t happen.
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