3 things we learned from Steelers loss against the Washington Football Team

The Steelers ran out of ‘magic’ against the Washington Football Team

Despite the loss against Washington, albeit it was a winnable game, one in which we were leading 0-14 at one point, the 2020 season has been a ‘magical’ season.  Mike Tomlin, our HC, has done a phenomenal job all season of leading the team through adversity; however, adversity won against Washington.

For as great of a job as Tomlin has done all season, there was a very questionable decision that I believe may have been one of those ‘turning point’ decisions.  After the ‘D’ forced a turnover on downs, the offense drove down into the ‘red zone’ and was facing a fourth and goal from the one.

As an aside, the previous three plays were also from the one-yard line.  So you mean to tell me that we could not generate enough push upfront on three consecutive plays to gain one yard?  Rather than taking a very makeable FG, even with a newly signed kicker, Tomlin decided to go for it on fourth down.

Instead of passing the ball after not being to gain a yard on the ground, we called a running play on fourth down and were stuffed again.  I guess we thought the result would be different but, alas, it was not.

Yes, the defense forced a punt and we scored a TD on the ensuing offensive possession, but the point is this: the lack of an effective running game has been an issue all season and against the Washington Football Team, it ‘came home to roost’.

The Steelers are still a very good, but flawed team

Look, whether you regularly read these articles or are a ‘newcomer’, let me reiterate something that I think is important for us to understand:  I bleed Black and Gold.  My Steelers journey started in 1978.  I have lived through the good times and the bad times.

Although we find ourselves with 11 ‘up’ and one ‘down’, we have issues that we need to address now, some of which have been issues all season.  That falls on our Head Coach.  We need to be able to run the ball when the weather gets cold in order to pound teams into submission.

That formula served us well for over two decades.  I don’t see why we can’t at least try to reestablish our dominance in that phase of the game.  If we don’t at least try, we will be talking about an early exit from the playoffs.