3 Steelers who need to step up in playoffs after no-showing vs. Bengals in Week 18

The Pittsburgh Steelers may have locked down a playoff spot, but man has the last month been grueling. They’ve lost the last four, most recently falling to the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL regular season finale on Saturday. 

It was a terrible offensive game for the Steelers, which has been a trend for them during their four-game losing streak. It was bad play calling that left them giving up three points just before halftime. And it was another lackluster performance for a team that was once competing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. 

They lost their grip on the AFC North title and after losing to the Bengals, they honestly didn’t deserve the No. 3 seed. If it weren’t for the Bengals folding early in the season, the Steelers might be left out of the playoffs altogether. 

Either way, they have to play better. This season at one point, they looked like real playoff contenders. Now they look like pretenders that truthfully should lose their spot to the Bengals after Saturday night. Here’s who needs to step up as playoff football begins in a week. 

3) Arthur Smith and the offense has been terrible the last month of the season. Saturday is the final wake-up call.

Whatever the Steelers’ problem has been on offense during the losing streak, they have to fix it; now. They won enough in the beginning of the season that this four-game skid doesn’t hurt them. 

But what it does is it shows a pattern they look like they can’t get out of. They didn’t score more than 17 points in the last four games. In the previous 13, they had just one game where they scored less than 17 points. 

And George Pickens being out obviously wasn’t the problem because he would have been better off rehabbing his hamstring injury another week, he was so useless on Saturday – more on that shortly. 

Smith rejuvenated an offense that was stale last season and needed to look playoff ready. And for most of the season, they did. But toward the end of the season is when you should be playing your best. 

The Steelers couldn’t have looked worse to close out the season. Smith, Mike Tomlin, Russell Wilson and the rest of the offensive unit have to figure out what went wrong. They have to figure out how to turn things around. Because they’re defense is getting the Joe Burrow treatment right now. 

They’re doing everything they can to win the game and the offense is holding them back. And it’s going to cost them a playoff run. 

2) George Pickens looked like Ja’Marr Chase during his rookie preseason with all the drops in Saturday’s home loss

Pickens couldn’t catch the ball. Like, he dropped half of every pass thrown his way. He didn’t make what could have been the catch to set up a game-winning field goal and dropped several passes that stalled offensive drives. 

While Pickens doesn’t deserve all the blame by any means, he can’t get away scot-free after a miserable showing on Saturday. He had just one catch for zero yards. He was targeted six times. He had three drops.

Yes, this was Pickens’ second game back after dealing with a hamstring injury. But he looked better against the Chiefs on Christmas Day, whose defense is lightyears better than Cincinnati’s, than he did on Saturday. 

Pickens has been Wilson’s favorite target. He finished the regular season with 900 receiving yards and three touchdowns. And the way he played on Saturday will spoil an otherwise good season from him. 

Look at how the Bengals were able to win five-straight to miraculously leave the door open for a playoff spot. It was Burrow, who will ultimately get slighted of an MVP nomination, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase that elevated the team. 

That’s something Pickens and the Steelers offense needs to think about. How can they get back in sync before their postseason ends just as it’s getting started.

1) Russell Wilson and his poor game management is a sign the Steelers are in dangerous territory

Russell Wilson scrambled out of the pocket, picked up a few yards and stayed in bounds. The precious seconds continued to tick away as the Steelers weren’t just battling the Bengals defense with the game on the line but the clock as well. 

It was a moment, followed by another Trey Hendrickson sack that became the poster-child for how far these Steelers have fallen since being 10-3 and in contention for the top seed in the AFC. 

Wilson has played terribly during the Steelers losing stretch and his response to questions after the game shouldn’t give Steelers fans any hope this is the end. Wilson didn’t throw for more than 220 yards in any of the last four games. 

He hasn’t looked like the quarterback the Steelers need to go on a playoff run and knock off the juggernaut Kansas City Chiefs. As a matter of fact, it feels like Justin Fields might be the fix for the Steelers offense because it seems to have reached its peak. 

Whatever is going on with Wilson and Smith and the play calling, it has to get fixed immediately. Because the offense can’t score right now. They can’t even bail their defense out with long enough drives to keep other offenses off the field. 

Wilson can’t afford to be tame about how the Steelers offense is playing right now. Because their season may be extended one more week, but it looks like it won’t go any further into the new year.