4 takeaways from Steelers gut-wrenching playoff loss vs Chiefs

Steelers receivers aren’t as good as we had hoped

At the beginning of last season, we had plenty of hope for Pittsburgh’s young group of wide receivers. JuJu Smith-Schuster was looking for a bounce-back year, while Chase Claypool really turned heads with an impressive rookie campaign. Likewise, Diontae Johnson could get open with ease and the Steelers still had a former second-round pick in James Washington coming off a season in which he led the team in receiving yards.

However, just one year later, this group is looking less than stellar. What many once thought could turn out to be one of the better wide receiver corps in the league currently looks like a below-average unit with no consistency of any sort to go around.

After a very good 2021 season, Johnson reverted back to his old way when it mattered most, and Claypool seems to have gotten even worse at adjusting to the ball in the air. While I give JuJu some grace after not playing football for three months, he had a pretty bad game against the Chiefs — earning just 26 yards on 8 targets and dropping a big pass.

James Washington was the best of the group against Kansas City, but he apparently hasn’t been good enough to see the field much in the second half of the season. The Steelers don’t have a ton going for them at wide receiver right now, and they could be without two of these four players in 2022 as Smith-Schuster and Washington are both unrestricted free agents.