Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they lost a winnable game when it mattered most to the New England Patriots. In front of the bright lights of Thursday Night Football, the Steelers looked abysmal in the first half of this Week 14 matchup, showed some signs of competence towards the end, but ultimately failed to get the job done yet again at home.
It's no secret that the Steelers haven't been consistent at all when it comes to all the little things that make a football team competitive. They look outcoached almost every single game, have no idea what to do at quarterback, a defense that can be great but tends to falter in the heat of the moment, and offensive play calling so bad, kids that play Madden can call better plays than what we see on the gridiron.
Now that the Steelers are 7-6 and NFL Playoff hopes are dwindling, it's time to start a new era in Pittsburgh. This was another glaring reminder that perhaps it's time to move on from head coach Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff. You know, start thinking about better days ahead in the future with a whole new regime in town.
Steelers get exposed in Week 14, lose 21-18 to the Patriots on TNF
At home in Acrisure Stadium, they lost back-to-back home games in less than a week, and to teams that were at the bottom of the barrel. They should have beaten the Arizona Cardinals and the Patriots because they are terrible teams but dropped the ball big time. Good teams at the very least, even if it's ugly, find ways to win these kinds of football games.
The Steelers did accomplish this a few times this year but their luck has run out and they got exposed for what they truly are. A team that is in no way, shape, or form a playoff contender. They don't deserve a playoff spot because they have bad coaching, bad offense, and lately, even a bad defense that looks confused when it comes to all the basic things in coverage, technique, and tackling.
This season is pretty much over and any hopes of them turning things around to make a playoff run should be thrown out the window. As painful as it is to say, it's time to blow this team up in the offseason. They need to start from scratch and bring in a whole new regime to take this historic franchise back to its glory days. They need to be transparent and put a two to three-year timeline to rebuild this team the right way.
It's the only way that better days will be ahead.