By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
Well, the NFL regular season is officially over and in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ lackluster finale, they showed they are committed to mediocrity.
In just four weeks, the Steelers went from a possible contender to just another playoff team – good enough to get to the postseason but bad enough to get bounced in the first round once again. What sticks with me is that I truly believe Pittsburgh had the tools to change the programs’ perennially stagnant perch. Between having two competent quarterbacks, a handful of talented receivers and rushers, a Hall of Fame coach and all backed by one of the best defenses in the league, the Steelers whiffed on manifesting their potential.
Saturday’s game against the Bengals was a perfect example of how Pittsburgh has ignored the cracks in their armor. Instead of making some adjustments in the final regular season game – obviously Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith didn’t read my last column – the top brass insisted on sticking with the same old gameplan.
Drawing from my own experience, a one-dimensional offense rarely works. In highschool – yes, I am aware that I am comparing my years at a failed high school football program to a historic NFL team – our coach had a grievance about quarterbacks and how the spotlight only shines on them. Formed with that philosophy, our plan of attack was to run the ball on almost every snap of the game. Lacking any superstar standout running back, we weren’t very effective, especially since the defense knew a run was coming by the third play of the game.
While the stage may be vastly different, the Steelers suffered the same problem on Saturday. Stubbornly sticking with the rush and against a well-aware Bengals defense, Pittsburgh continuously failed to break through the trenches, a failure made more embarrassing knowing that it was against the 25th worst defense in the league.
Worst of all, in the final minutes of the game when the Steelers were up against a wall and forced to throw, the pass game started to work. Pittsburgh was marching down field and had a chance to erase their misfortunes of the first three quarters had it not been for Russell Wilson.
In choosing Russell Wilson over Justin Fields, the Steelers were leaning into his one-redeeming quality: experience. Having played at an elite level for the majority of his career, including in two Super Bowls, Wilson should know what to do and how to close out games in crunch time. Against Cincinnati, he looked completely washed up.
While being sacked four times is not completely on his shoulders, Wilson’s total lack of mobility and pocket presence was – and has been – a glaring weak spot. Nearly every week there are instances when the pocket collapses and ‘Concrete Cleat’ Wilson seems to freeze up, giving himself up to closing in on defenders rather than looking for an escape route.
Even when throwing, Wilson barely scraped by, narrowly surpassing a 50 percent completion rate – he threw 17-for-31 or 54 percent. One especially egregious pass lingers in my mind: on the Steelers’ final drive of the game, in a must-score scenario, George Pickens beat his defender and was streaming downfield, nothing but green in front of him. Seeing this, Wilson launched a deep pass, his specialty, but instead of connecting with Pickens for a long, solo fastbreak into the endzone, a moment that fans would have savored with each victory-clinching yard, the throw wound up a foot behind the receiver. Uncatchable and disappointing.
Needless to say, entering the playoffs against the now NFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens, there is not a lot of optimism on this side of the keyboard. Losing what may have been their last edge in home field advantage, the short-circuiting Steelers now enter the lions’ den for the Wild Card game.
While the end of the season may be closing in sooner than anticipated, I can still see one silver lining: Wilsons’ contract will be up. I just hope Pittsburgh is smart enough to show him the door.
