Just a few weeks ago the Pittsburgh Steelers were sitting pretty at 10-3, with their sights set on an AFC North crown.
Three consecutive losses in 11 days, however, has Steel City reeling.
While plenty of blame can be shared for Wednesday's lopsided loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, (Pittsburgh scored just 10 points in George Pickens' return from injury), the focus of a disgruntled postgame locker room seemed to center on fixing an ailing defense that has allowed at least 27 points in each of three straight losses.
"Can't explain it, it's happening," Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen told reporters after the game, . "We keep talking about it. Nobody is doing a thing about it. ... If nobody does anything about what they are supposed to be doing then we don't have any room for it."
On Wednesday, defensive lapses plagued the Steelers at all three levels.
Pittsburgh's pass rush failed to get after a hampered Mahomes, generating a 17.9% pressure rate against the Chiefs, which marked their lowest pressure rate in a game this season, per Next Gen Stats. To be fair, Mahomes ultilized the quick passing game to aplomb for a second consecutive week -- he averaged 2.34 seconds to throw on Wednesday -- but an unbothered Mahomes was able to shred the Steelers secondary.
Mahomes had a season-high 127.1 passer rating in the win and his stat line of 320 passing yards, three TDs and zero interceptions was his first-such performance since Week 11, 2021.
"First off, guys can't be f------ wide open," Steelers safety DeShon Elliott said after the game. "That's the first thing. Just do your job, you know? I thought we communicated. Guys just weren't doing their freaking job. So, get back to the drawing board. It's Week 18. Shouldn't be having these problems in Week 18. This is a Week 1, Week 2 problem. I don't know where we went down the line, started becoming a whole different defense than what we were, but we've got to get back to who we are."
Veteran defensive lineman Cameron Heyward added, "When 10 guys do their job and one guy doesn't, we are screwed."
The past three losses -- all to teams that will be playing in the postseason -- present a historic swoon for the proud franchise. The last time Pittsburgh lost three straight games by 14-plus points was back in 1988. The Steelers had not allowed at least 25 points in three consecutive games since 2018. And this stretch is just the second time in the past 35 seasons that Pittsburgh has had a -50 or worse point differential in three games, per NFL Research.
"It's definitely frustrating putting out a performance like this back-to-back-to-back weeks," linebacker Alex Highsmith said, . "We just gotta look in the mirror and own it. We gotta realize we only have two guaranteed games left. Whatever we've got to do, we've got to put our head down and work."
The Steelers will look to right the ship next week in their regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.
