For many of us, this time of year means New Year’s resolutions. A resolution that a lot of people make is to get their lives more organized.
That’s a good one. But there’s a difference between cutting the clutter of one’s daily existence and just knocking out a generic “to-do” list.
Getting the car its annual inspection, cleaning out the garage and writing thank-you notes for Christmas gifts don’t really count as fulfilling the overarching “get your life together” resolution.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are no different. They’ve got plenty of resolutions to make.
• They have to figure out if they are going to stick with Russell Wilson at quarterback in 2025 and beyond. If not, are they going to commit to Justin Fields or reboot the position yet again?
• Are they going to extend George Pickens and give him a big money contract (I wouldn’t), or trade him, get assets and rebuild the wide receiver room through trades, free agency and the draft?
• They must decide what they are going to do at tackle and running back now that they have let Dan Moore Jr. and Najee Harris get to the brink of free agency.
• They better bulk up along the defensive line and at cornerback.
Unfortunately, though, from a personnel perspective, none of those resolutions are going to be resolved before next weekend’s regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers have who they have at those positions, and they must work around the deficiencies in those places that have been exposed in losses against three of the NFL’s elite teams over the past three weeks.
Yeah. Forget New Year’s resolutions. Instead, the Steelers need to focus on a more immediate to-do list to get their team in order and stop the latest edition of their nearly annual late-season death spiral.
• They’ve got to get off the field on defense more efficiently. They can’t just rely on turnovers and sacks to do it, either.
The once-vaunted Steelers pass rush didn’t sack Patrick Mahomes last week and got Lamar Jackson down only once in Baltimore the week before.
After the loss to Kansas City on Christmas, Mike Tomlin said the Steelers need to rediscover their “turnover culture.” An increased pass rush would help the cause dramatically.
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Still, turnovers are fickle. The Steelers forced none against the Chiefs. They got one in Baltimore and gave it right back on a pick-6. Against the Eagles, Tomlin’s team got two in the first quarter on back-to-back sequences but turned them into zero points, then got nothing the rest of the game.
The Steelers have to start forcing more three-and-outs and getting punts on the defensive side of the 50-yard line. Against Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ offense, that’s a lot easier said than done. The Bengals punted only twice in the first meeting between the clubs. If the Steelers can force three turnovers again, though, problem solved.
At least for this week.
• The pass protection has to improve. Wilson has been sacked 10 times over the last three games. He has been pressured out of the pocket much more frequently than that as well. He has had to scramble for yards much more often than designed. Wilson has had 13 rushing attempts over those three losses. Most of those weren’t drawn up and were the result of Wilson having to use his legs to improvise.
Wilson can still move, but he’s not Fields. His attempts to escape pressure can’t be a fallback in game-planning like it was when Fields was the QB for the first six weeks.
• The run game has to lead to something. It generated 202 yards last week. Wilson’s scrambles accounted for most of his 55 yards that contributed to that total. A lot of those yards from Harris and Jaylen Warren were after the game was decided, and the offense still netted only 10 points.
Harris and Warren averaged 4.2 yards per rush between them in Baltimore. That was decent but not enough for coordinator Arthur Smith to rely upon as they had to play catch-up. And the run game netted just 56 yards on 17 attempts in Philadelphia.
If the defense can’t get off the field against the Bengals, the offense better stay on it as long as possible, and the running backs need to play a heavy role in that approach.
• If the pass rush isn’t going to fluster opposing quarterbacks, the secondary needs to cover longer. Against three Pro Bowl QBs — throwing to multiple Pro Bowl receivers and tight ends — over the past three weeks, the Steelers’ defensive backs were picked apart.
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Mahomes, Jackson and Jalen Hurts posted a combined 124.7 passer rating against the Steelers’ defense. They had a collective 8:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. They completed a combined 74% of their passes for 788 yards at a rate of 8.1 yards per attempt.
Dating to Cincy’s first game against the Steelers, Burrow has completed 72.5% of his passes for an average of 322.6 yards per game (8.1 yards per attempt), 15 touchdowns against four interceptions and a passer rating of 115.6.
That doesn’t sound good.
Not to mention, the Bengals still have something to play for now that their playoff hopes are still somehow alive heading into Week 18.
As you can see, there’s a lot to fix with the Steelers. The big-picture resolutions can wait. It’s time to come up with some quick fixes for this weekend so that the club can potentially keep its faint AFC North hopes alive and position itself for the best possible wild-card seed.
Otherwise, 2025 might just be another year of wondering when the Steelers will ever win another playoff game.