Steelers house is burning from within as George Pickens, several stars point fingers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost three games in 11 days, all by double digits, as they watch their AFC North chances fade as a result. Two Ravens wins to end the season will cement the Steelers status as a Wild Card team, and make winning their first playoff game since 2017 far less realistic.

There is plenty of blame to go around, first and foremost the NFL for assuming the Steelers albatross of a schedule was fair to begin with. Nonetheless, Pittsburgh is far from the only team that had to deal with scheduling concerns this season. They do not get a pass. Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff haven't look up to the task, and the players haven't performed up to par. The standard sucks.

And before Steelers fans even suggest it, Omar Khan will not fire Tomlin, nor should he. 18 straight winning seasons is laughed off around these parts, but in the NFL it's a blessing any team would sign up for these days. Tomlin can be one of the best coaches in the league with the right checks and balances, as well as the right talent around him. The Steelers don't have that right now.

Pittsburgh Steelers players sound off on recent losing streak

Whether it be during the game (once it was out of hand) or postgame, the Steelers players made their disdain obvious. First, it was George Pickens, who yelled towards the sideline when he was called for a penalty. Pickens then congratulated Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce during an interview after the Steelers deflating defeat.

Cameron Heyward, the heart of the Steelers defense, had this to say about the team's effort:

“Guys have to want it. Guys have to execute. It was 16-10 at halftime. Had all the opportunities in the world. We’ll look at it," Heyward said.

DeShon Elliott took matters a step further.

"They made adjustments when they should have. We did not....guys can't be f---ing wide open. That's the first thing. Do your job...it's Week 18. We shouldn't be having these problems in Week 18. That's a Week 1 or Week 2 problem," Elliott said.

He's not wrong! Pittsburgh's secondary is just one of its many problems defensively of late. The Steelers spend far more on their defense than any other NFL team, yet they are underperforming in December again.

“There’s got to be a want-to. There’s not enough of that right now. There’s got to be a want to. It’s that time of the year where we’ve got two guaranteed games left. We’re gonna find out who wants it, you know what I mean? Everybody in this room gotta want it. That’s the only way we’re gonna move on and get better," Alex Highsmith added.

It's Week 17 and the AFC North is on the line. Why is there not a want-to mindset at this juncture?

The Steelers have a problem, and it starts at the very top. I doubt anything will be done about it.