Bar continues to drop for Steelers as they enter Carolina

The Steelers will soon be entering their 14th game of the season, yet the theme of their run still stands unchanged: one step forward, two steps back.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: there isn’t a pilot on this planet that could give you as much turbulence as Steelers fans have endured this season. Every single time they sense that their guys have the slightest bit of lightning in their bottle, some catastrophic performance comes in and brings them back to reality.

By saying all of this, I am obviously referring to the most recent egg that Pittsburgh has laid, and that was this last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

Just to make sure you’re up to speed, please allow me to remind you that the Steelers were entering Acrisure Stadium with back-to-back wins under their belts. As for the Ravens, their previous couple of games had been nothing but cruel to them—so cruel, in fact, that they lost star quarterback Lamar Jackson to a knee injury.

With all of that on the table, I was one of the many feeling pretty confident that Pittsburgh had what it took to down Baltimore for the fifth time straight. But oh, how wrong we all were.

First off, the Ravens were actually worse than many would have expected them to be. Quarterback Tyler Huntley—a man that has shown the potential of being a dual-threat talent—amassed only 119 total yards and was incapable of hitting the end zone once. Baltimore’s offense was obviously very lackluster as a result, with kicker Justin Tucker being the team’s leading scorer en route to a whopping 16 points.

The Steelers are at home, their mojo is at an all-time high, and that’s what they’re facing? They have this one in the bag for sure—except they didn’t.

What caused the Steelers to fall apart against the Ravens?

Rookie Pittsburgh QB Kenny Pickett secured a spot in concussion protocol after taking a rough hit on his first drive of the game, a hit that led to his eventual removal. This led to veteran quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who was the starter earlier this season, entering the game. Unfortunately, it didn’t take too long for fans to be reminded of why he had lost his starting gig in the first place.

Trubisky ended up throwing three interceptions on the day, failing to make a true offensive impact until he found tight end Pat Freiermuth for a late touchdown pass. The touchdown didn’t do the team much good, though, as Pittsburgh had been down by two possessions with under three minutes to go at the time of it being scored. The horrendous showing saw the Ravens win 16-14.

It feels like the Steelers are now back to square one, and they will be desperately trying to regain just an ounce of their traction as they head into Carolina for a date with the Panthers.

I can’t lie, looking at that upcoming matchup, all I can see is Pittsburgh falling flat on its face once again; that’s just how low the morale is for Steeler Nation at this point. This is especially the case when considering that if the Steelers lose one more game, they will have clinched a losing record—something that they have not had since 2003.

Over the course of the 2022-23 slate, I have seen this team hit the ground harder and harder the more times it falls. With that said, imagining the approaching Sunday being the darkest one yet shows just how little progress has been made (even with the occasional wins).

But through it all, there is one ray of sunshine in the middle of this perennial hurricane, and that is just how similar the circumstances surrounding the Steelers and Panthers are.

Not only are both teams currently 5-8 on the season, but the Panthers will be hosting the Steelers with the former coming off of back-to-back wins while the latter has been marred by ugly performances and a questionable QB situation. Does that not sound like the exact same scenario we saw when the Steelers just hosted the Ravens?

In other words, Pittsburgh’s best shot at beating Carolina ultimately falls on whether or not the Panthers can also find a way to trip over themselves. For what should hopefully be obvious reasons, I would not recommend banking on that sort of thing happening this time around.