Going into Week 18, the Pittsburgh Steelers were riding a ton of momentum. Coming off three-straight wins and taking on the lowly Cleveland Browns, this was a game the Steelers needed.
If Pittsburgh had won, the Steelers officially would have knocked the Baltimore Ravens out of the playoff picture and won the AFC North. It seemed too easy ... a win over the Browns? No problem.
Think again -- the Steelers came out thinking about anything but winning the football game. On a day where they should have been focused on themselves and how to put their own players in the best position to succeed, the Steelers instead focused on one player in particular.
And that player wasn't even in black and yellow.
The Pittsburgh Steelers shoot themselves in the foot by selfishly focusing on Myles Garrett instead of a playoff berth
Of course, one of the biggest storylines of the week was the idea that Browns defensive end Myles Garrett could wind up breaking the single-season sack record, which is currently held by T.J. Watt.
No Steelers fan wanted to see Garrett break the record against Pittsburgh. That would have felt wrong on many levels. Yet, at the end of the day, what would've the Steelers rather had: Garrett not break the record while the Steelers lose, or Garrett break the record, and Pittsburgh clinches their playoff berth?
The entirety of this game, it seemed like the Steelers were far too concerned with Garrett not breaking the record. The offensive game plan had Aaron Rodgers getting rid of the ball in a hurry on seemingly every attempt.
It isn't hard to see it in the numbers, either, with Rodgers ending up throwing the ball 39 times and totaling just 168 yards passing.
Arthur Smith should be ashamed of himself. This game was very clearly all about not allowing Garrett to get to Rodgers. It wasn't about winning. Smith can say whatever he wants to say in the aftermath of this sheer embarrassment, but there are no words to defend what Steelers fans saw on that field.
Now, Pittsburgh faces a must-win scenario in Week 18 against a much more difficult opponent, the Baltimore Ravens. This is the last thing Pittsburgh wanted, especially considering how the Ravens looked in Week 17 against the Packers.
The Steelers get to take on Derrick Henry who is coming off one of the biggest performances of his career, as he ran for over 200 yards and four touchdowns on that Green Bay defense.
If Pittsburgh loses in Week 18, their season is done while the Ravens somehow clinch the division.
And this is all thanks to a selfish game plan from Smith who coached just plain scared. Instead of game planning to win, he game-planned not to lose ... except that didn't even work.