The Pittsburgh Steelers are going through their worst stretch of the 2024 season. Currently the team is riding a three-game losing streak, and none of the group's losses have been very competitive. Both sides of the ball have struggled immensely, and this is extremely bad timing considering the playoffs are right around the corner. Pittsburgh's tough streak essentially gave away the division to the Baltimore Ravens, and the Steelers will likely be the fifth or sixth seed in the AFC.
Pittsburgh's three-game losing streak includes three losses to teams that are considered Super Bowl contenders. The Philadelphia Eagles beat Pittsburgh by 14, the group then lost to Baltimore by 17, and then was destroyed by the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day by a score of 29-10. The loss to the Chiefs was a sign that the Steelers have a lot more work to do to get to where they want to be, and Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith spoke with the media about learning lessons from the loss and hoping to clash with the Chiefs again.
"You go book and debrief, or call it an after-action report, and talk about the lesson learned. Hopefully we are playing those guys again at some point." Smith said. "Obviously, they may have a new wrinkle here or there, but those are lessons learned. You go in and prepare. You know they will have something new and they will adapt, too, if you're hitting them with something. Just like in the Cincy game, they changed some of their stuff in the second half, so you don't make the same mistake twice."
This is an interesting mindset to hear that Smith is in. It didn't really feel like his offense had anything going for them in the loss to Kansas City. Lessons can be learned since the game ended, but it is not like he began to find some glaring weakness in the Chiefs’ defense towards the end of the contest. The lone bright spot for Pittsburgh seemed to be Jaylen Warren, who broke off chunk play after chunk play. However the offensive unit was only able to muster up 10 points.
Smith wants to see the Chiefs again, and it will take a lot for that to happen. It's quite simple. If the Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night (and the Ravens win their respective game), they are the fifth seed and will travel to play the Houston Texans. If the Steelers lose and the Los Angeles Chargers win, Pittsburgh will fall to the sixth seed and travel to take on the Ravens for the third time this season.
Houston is clearly the much more favorable matchup between the two options for the Steelers. If they can take down the Texans in the Wild Card Round and both the Ravens and Buffalo Bills can win their first-round games, Smith will get his wish as the Steelers would travel to take on the Chiefs in the Divisional Round.
Steelers’ Offense Must Find Some Confidence In Regular Season Finale
The Steelers will be taking on the Bengals on Saturday night to end their regular season, and the game obviously has huge playoff implications. The Bengals still have a chance to secure the seventh seed, and the Steelers’ seed in the AFC is still up in the air. Something that is arguably more important is the fact that the offense for the Steelers needs to regain some confidence before the playoffs begin.
The Bengals’ defense has been one of the worst in the league throughout the 2024 season. The Steelers were able to put up 37 points on them just a few weeks ago. Pittsburgh needs to come out and prove that they are still capable of doing that, as the group needs to get its swagger back before entering postseason play.
