Another season for the Pittsburgh Steelers and, like clockwork, Mike Tomlin's team found a way to lose to a team that they had no business falling to. The Arizona Cardinals came into a rainy Steel City, ran all over the defense and halted a Steelers offense that seemed to have gained a little bit of momentum in a Week 12 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cardinals prevailed, 24-10, and Pittsburgh's only touchdown came in garbage time when the game was out of reach. There were many injuries in a sloppy, twice-delayed contest, but all together, it was a horrible defeat for Tomlin and co.
It was certainly an odd game as the Steelers out-gained Arizona and had the same amount of first downs (18). While the offense was moving the ball at times, nothing turned into points and a two-win team in Arizona walked out of Acrisure Stadium with big smiles and a third victory on the season. Pittsburgh should certainly take note of what happened in the Cardinals' locker room afterwards.
Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote about the homecoming of running back, James Conner. The former Steeler and Pitt Panther rushed for over 100 yards and two scores. The beginning of his piece, however, had nothing to do with Conner. It gave readers an inside look on what Cardinals' players were saying postgame. Unnamed players brought up recently-fired Offensive Coordinator, Matt Canada, and how he was probably watching the game laughing.
“Matt Canada was at the crib watching that game like, ‘I’m the problem, huh,'" someone said in a sarcastic tone.
If one takes a deeper dive into the game's statistics, a common problem with Canada's offense was it constantly got out-gained. In the two games without him, that hasn't happened, but the offense has continued to struggle putting points up on the board.
Arizona's players aren't buying into the Steelers in the post-Canada era. A teammate of whoever brought up Canada watching the game followed with a simple, yet strikingly disrespectful statement.
"These guys still stink."
The Cardinals don't have much to play for in 2023 other than pride. It appears as if a win against a superior opponent had all of them extremely comfortable to talk badly about the Steelers. The matter of the fact is that the offense has looked a bit more promising in two weeks since Canada's firing, but a total of only 26 points being put up is as concerning as it gets.
Pittsburgh has a staggering point differential of negative 37, despite holding the fifth seed in the AFC playoff picture and a 7-5 record. Their ability to face adversity will be tested throughout the month of December as Kenny Pickett will have ankle surgery and is expected to be out for at least two games, but probably more. The franchise's playoff hopes now lie in the hands of Mitch Trubisky.
Steelers Miss Huge Opportunity To Compete For AFC's Top Seed
The biggest part about the loss to the Cardinals is the chances of winning the division took a huge hit. The Baltimore Ravens sit with only three losses. The two teams will battle it out in Week 18 and while both may have clinched a playoff berth by then, the Steelers can be back one game and still win the AFC North in the final week of the season because of a victory over Baltimore in Week 5.
The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, which leaves the door wide open for any three or four-loss team to be the one seed come January. Pittsburgh is unlikely to win out, but even if they found a way to, 12 wins is probably not going to be enough to receive a first-round bye with the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Chiefs and Ravens lurking.
More must-reads: