3 Steelers who should be benched or fired after losing to lowly Cardinals

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. Yes, this is an article I had written as of Sunday morning. For those of us who have watched the Steelers in Mike Tomlin's tenure, there is always one WTF game each year. This was it, and frankly Pittsburgh fans have every right to be sick and tired of it all.

Tomlin is a fine head coach -- he doesn't have a losing season on his resume, which is important -- but his teams also haven't reached their full potential in quite some time. 2023 was meant to be different. Perhaps Tomlin could help his team maintain focus in what is, frankly, one of the easier remaining schedules in the NFL.

Unfortunately, Tomlin and Co. have failed in that department. Kenny Pickett's injury plus some weather delays did not help matters in Week 13, but in the end Pittsburgh can only blame themselves for a loss that could come back to haunt them in the AFC Playoff Picture.

3. Steelers to blame: Mike Sullivan didn't call a good game

It's tough to put all the blame on Mike Sullivan, as the Steelers are working with a limited playbook provided by a previous regime. Matt Canada may no longer be in the building, but his ghost casts a curse on this offense.

Sullivan cannot and will not implement an entirely new offense over the course of just a few weeks. He definitely cannot do so without Kenny Pickett at the helm. The Steelers starting QB went down in the first half and didn't return. Mitch Trubisky struggled to get much going offensively, forcing Sullivan into a tough position.

Pittsburgh would have been better off running the ball early, as they averaged over six yards per carry in the first quarter. The Steelers offensive success would not last, despite some impressive yardage picked up in the first half. Without Pickett and forced to throw in the second half once Arizona went up by two scores, there was no winning playbook for the Steelers.