The Pittsburgh Steelers had a poor performance against the Indianapolis Colts. There’s no denying it. Their attack started slow and was hampered for too much of the time. Their defense was beaten and pushed back. Against a team missing multiple starters on offense, the Steelers’ defense should have had a much better day. Instead, they put together a junior varsity effort with Joe Flacco. DeShon Elliott believes the Steelers beat themselves by not working hard enough this week.
according to To Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Elliott said after the game that the Steelers need to work harder going forward. Batko made it clear that Elliott isn’t saying the Steelers are overconfident because they’re undefeated, but that he feels like they didn’t pay enough attention to details.
This was clearly evident during the game. The Steelers lost the turnover battle and made numerous mental errors. They beat themselves just as much as the Colts beat them. They wasted chances throughout the game. Whether it was dropping an interception, missing a fumble, forcing a fumble, or not executing correctly, the Steelers were their own worst enemy.
You could say that every game the Steelers have played this year has looked ugly, but it seemed to be the brand of ugly that the Steelers had in control. They seemed unfazed. Against the Colts, they often looked flustered. Justin Fields rebounded nicely after a brutal mistake, but the game was essentially over because of a mistake for which he could share the blame.
The Steelers seemed more settled in the second half, but they shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place. Playing with a 39-year-old backup quarterback should have made this game a lot easier for the Steelers’ defense. They have terrorized opponents this season but allowed Flacco to lead the Colts with 27 points.
We’ll see if the Steelers come out next week with a fire under them. This may have been the wake-up call they needed, based on Elliott’s words. Mike Tomlin doesn’t want his players to get comfortable and looks set to have an uncomfortable week ahead. It’s still early in the year, so there’s plenty of time to get back on track. They were always going to lose in the end. It’s a shame it has to be done this way.
