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Is this rock bottom?
It’s been less than a week and everything has gone off the rails for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here was a team entering Week 13 at 7-4, in control of their playoff destiny, and seemingly turning a corner after firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Now they’ve been reduced to fans furiously chanting for Mason Rudolph.
To say Thursday Night Football was a letdown is the understatement of the century. Sure, on some level you might be able to justify losing to the Cardinals in Week 13 with Kyler Murray back in the fold and the team finding its footing again — but the Patriots, at home, that’s beyond the pale.
Any time you find yourself clamoring for Mason Rudolph, nay any third-string quarterback, you know things are bad. This might just be the breaking point for the Steelers. Mitch Trubisky was woefully ineffective on Thursday night. He finished with just 190 passing yards on an absurd 35 pass attempts — a disgusting 5.4 yards-per-attempt.
Hell, George Pickens’ route tree looked less like an NFL receiver, and more like someone wandering up and down grocery store aisles looking for pine nuts.
After back-to-back losses to two of the NFL’s saddest teams the Steelers are a franchise that seems utterly lost. On paper they’re 7-6 and very much in the playoff hunt, but it sure doesn’t feel like they have much of a shot left in 2023. Pittsburgh enters a brutal four game stretch against the Colts, Bengals, Seahawks and Ravens — all of which are likely losses if they can’t lift their play, which would almost assuredly spell the end to the Steelers’ season.
This is a franchise which feels lost and directionless for the first time in Mike Tomlin’s tenure. Parting ways with the head coach would be a massive mistake, but frustration can cause weird things to happen — like cheering for Mason Rudolph.
