PITTSBURGH (AP) — Looking back, DeShon Elliott thinks he maybe shouldn’t have made his frustrations about the direction the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is heading so public.
Then again, the veteran safety knows the candor he showed in the aftermath of a 29-10 loss to Kansas City on Christmas Day — when he vented about communication issues in the secondary that shouldn’t be popping up in late December for a unit that considers itself among the best in the league — also makes him who he is.
“It was out of emotion,” Elliott said Wednesday. “I love ball. Everyone knows that I love these guys. But we just have to get back to the drawing board.”
And do it quickly.
The swagger the Steelers (10-6) and the NFL’s highest-paid defense exuded for the first three-plus months of the season has vanished during the three-game losing streak they take into the regular-season finale against Cincinnati (8-8), replaced by the kinds of mistakes that have cost them the inside track to the AFC North title.
Shortly after Patrick Mahomes picked them apart while throwing for 320 yards and three scores, several players — including Elliott and outside linebacker Alex Highsmith — groused about a variety of issues.
While Elliott wondered aloud why the secondary was missing so many assignments, Highsmith was questioning the “want-to” of unnamed teammates.
Coach Mike Tomlin downplayed the unusually open nature of his players’ discontent, calling it a byproduct of their passion.
Maybe, but it was also symbolic of a group desperately trying to find something — anything — to build on ahead of the playoffs.
It’s telling of the current mood in the locker room that after star outside linebacker T.J. Watt was selected as the team’s Most Valuable Player for a record fifth time on Wednesday afternoon, he spent most of his brief session with reporters fielding questions about how things have gotten so sideways so quickly.
Asked about the defense’s level of angst, Watt shrugged.
“I think we’re all professionals, we’re all grown adults here,” he said. “We know that it’s all about channeling energy in the right way.”
If Pittsburgh wants to avoid another quick playoff exit, it doesn’t really have a choice. The Steelers are giving up more than 400 yards per game during their current skid against the kinds of teams — Philadelphia, Baltimore and Kansas City — that similar to Pittsburgh, carry the desire to play deep into January and beyond.
The Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs are surging to the finish. The Steelers are not. And while the offense has hit a rough patch — it hasn’t helped that wide receiver George Pickens missed three weeks with a hamstring injury and was kept relatively under wraps by Kansas City in his return.
Pittsburgh’s best chance at being a legitimate threat when the playoffs begin relies heavily on a star-studded unit that creates turnovers and chaos.
At the moment there’s little of either to go around.
While the Steelers are tied with Minnesota and Buffalo for the most takeaways in the league (31), they’re also minus-2 in turnover ratio during a December swoon that has done little to offer proof they’re ready to compete with the league’s elite.
And while Watt remains one of the best in coming off the edge, his 11 1/2 sacks are also on pace for the fewest in a non-injury-abbreviated season since his rookie year in 2017, endemic of a unit that’s going to finish with its fewest sacks in a decade.
There are a myriad of factors at play, from the outsized attention Watt receives to Highsmith missing six games with groin and ankle problems to opposing offenses emphasizing quick passes designed to negate Pittsburgh’s pass rush.
Yet the Steelers were getting by just fine until one of the most daunting stretches any team in the league faced this season, 11 days against three division champions that exposed Pittsburgh’s weaknesses for the whole league — and anyone they might face in the playoffs — to see.
The nature of the losses — each by two touchdowns or more, the worst such stretch by the Steelers since the 1980s — created the ingredients of an imperfect storm that happened to blow in with cameras and tape recorders rolling.
“You prepare to win, and when you don’t win, things can get frustrat(ing), but we’ll be all right,” Elliott said. “We all love each other. It’s like when you argue with your brother. Eventually, you’ll hash it out and get on the same page.”
The sooner “eventually” gets here for Pittsburgh, the better. If it doesn’t come by the second weekend of January, another season with three potential Hall of Famers at each level of the defense — from Watt to longtime captain Cam Heyward to safety Minkah Fitzpatrick — will have come and gone without a playoff victory to show for it.
Trying to regain its confidence against the Bengals — winners of four straight behind quarterback Joe Burrow — is a tough ask. The Steelers have put themselves in a position where they desperately need to come up with an answer.
To that end, the players requested an additional walkthrough on Wednesday, unusual for this time of the season.
Then again, they’re in an unusual situation — a playoff team that doesn’t look like one at the moment — and they know it.
“Our guys give a (darn),” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “And so to me that’s important and that’s an important thing to have. And that tells me that they want to get it right and they’re not satisfied with it going the way it is.”
NOTES: CB Donte Jackson (back) was limited on Wednesday. … CB Joey Porter Jr. (knee) was a full participant for a second straight day and is expected to play after sitting out against Kansas City.
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