A GRIM REALITY
Steelers trying to figure out how they blew it with all that talent
PITTSBURGH — A day later, it still seemed hard to believe that arguably the most talented Pittsburgh Steelers team since the 1970s dynasty is eliminated from the playoffs already.
The mood in Steel City on Monday was as grey and glum as the late-day sloshy, snowy weather following the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 45-42 upset win at Heinz Field on Sunday afternoon.
This Pittsburgh team won the AFC North by losing only three of 16 games. A team that reached the conference championship game a year ago improved in several areas, especially on defence.
How many NFL teams ever have been able to check all these boxes?:
Great quarterback, one of the top four or five of his generation (Ben Roethlisberger).
Great running back, currently maybe the NFL’s best (Le’Veon Bell).
Great wide receiver, currently maybe the NFL’s best (Antonio Brown).
Great offensive line, currently maybe the NFL’s best with three named as Pro Bowl starters (guard David DeCastro, centre Maurkice Pouncey and tackle Alejandro Villanueva).
Two other explosive, playmaking receivers (rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster and Martavis Bryant) and a couple of productive pass-catching tight ends (Jesse James and Vance McDonald).
Finally, a much improved defence that registered more QB sacks (56) than any NFL team over the past four seasons, which finished the current season ranked among the top seven in 10 defensive categories.
That such a talent-soaked squad did not win even one playoff game, let alone reach the NFL’s Final Four as last year, cannot qualify as anything other than a major, burning disappointment for this organization.
A handful of Steelers players expressed that reality Monday afternoon — as they began clearing out their lockers following season-ending meetings — not so much in their words, but rather on their faces, in their sighs and low-volume voices, and even in a leaked tear or two. The knew they blew it. “It’s going to bother me all the way to OTAs. I mean I just don’t get over things,” said fifthyear linebacker Vince Williams.
“Every time you don’t win the Super Bowl it’s a wasted opportunity. You’ve got guys who have played in this league for a long period of time that don’t even get the opportunity to play in the playoffs. So any time you get the opportunity and come up short, you failed.”
The small number of players who made themselves available to reporters Monday (Roethlisberger, Bell and Brown did not speak, nor head coach Mike Timlin) had mixed opinions on how destructive all the talk and tweets were that emanated from their locker room and podiums for weeks, which suggested the Steelers were laser-locked on an AFC championship game rematch with New England.
“Yeah, obviously. I hate that stuff. But that’s just me. I know I’m weird, I’m different,” guard DeCastro said of social-media boasts, whining and what-not.
DeCastro implied after Sunday’s game he wasn’t too happy with running back Le’Veon Bell all but taunting the Jaguars by saying he was looking forward not only to their rematch, but one with New England a week later.
“Uh, they were hungry, that’s for sure,” DeCastro said of the Jaguars. “They weren’t happy about it. So … I don’t want to make an excuse, y’know, or a good reason. I’m sure they were going to play hard regard- less. It’s a playoff game.
“But they were ready to go. They played better than us.”
Eighth-year defensive end Tyson Alualu echoed DeCastro’s opinion that Bell’s tweet sure seemed to matter to the Jaguars.
“They said after the game that we gave them too much fuel,” he said. “It is what it is. Talk is talk. You’ve got to back it up. But at the end of the day it’s still a game. We didn’t execute or do our jobs enough to come out on top.”
From a positive standpoint, receiver Martavis Bryant offered this opinion:
“Distractions didn’t hurt us. We still finished, what, 13-3? We don’t let distractions come between what we got going in the locker room … We had a good year.”
Similarly, linebacker Williams — who’s as disappointed as any player or fan — offered this salve:
“As the emotions start to trickle out as the days go by and the Super Bowl passes, I think we’ll realize we had a special year (despite the) adversity and actually performed pretty well.”
And the culture in Pittsburgh, second-year cornerback Artie Burns reminded, is to always bounce back.
“We found some things out about ourselves. We did a lot of good things,” he said. “We brought new people along, who played a lot of good ball this year. So we’ve just got to keep growing. We’re still young. There’s a lot of ball to be played.”