Steelers are running in place, with no obvious solution in sight

Updated Jan. 13, 2025 5:32 p.m. ET

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — T.J. Watt checked his phone, stuck his hands in his pockets, took a breath and looked up, girding himself for the questions he knew would come.

Eight years into his pro career, the Pittsburgh Steelers star linebacker has become all too familiar with the abruptness of how seasons end. Maybe because they always seem to end the same for his team.

A promising start. A slide to the finish. A lopsided playoff loss. An uncomfortable locker cleanout day and muted goodbyes.

In that way, 2024 was no different from 2023. Or 2021. Or 2020. Or 2017. It's getting old for a player with a burgeoning Hall of Fame resume with a massive hole that only grows bigger with each passing season.

“There’s not one thing that needs to be fixed here,” Watt said Monday, less than 48 hours removed from a 28-14 beating at the hands of Baltimore that marked Pittsburgh's sixth straight playoff loss. “There’s a lot of things.”

What, exactly, remains unclear even as Watt pledged to be “part of the solution.”

Pittsburgh blew up its quarterback room last winter and overhauled its offense only to end up in a familiar spot: with a 10-7 record and a fringe postseason team whose shortcomings were repeatedly exposed against the teams they're so desperately trying to catch.

Asked if he felt the Steelers were closer to returning to the league's elite than they were 12 months ago, Watt shrugged, well aware that a five-game skid to end the season that included blowouts at the hands of Kansas City, Philadelphia and Baltimore didn't exactly paint the picture of a team on the rise.

“I don't know,” Watt said. “I definitely haven’t lost confidence in this group. I feel like we have the pieces.”

Getting those pieces to work together when it matters, however, remains elusive. There was a sameness that crept in weekly during Pittsburgh's swoon. A slow start on offense. A defense that allowed opponents to quickly build double-digit leads. A futile attempt at a comeback. Talk afterward about better preparation and execution, platitudes that never materialized no matter what day of the week they played on.

Now what?

The Steelers have no plans to part with Mike Tomlin. The NFL's longest-tenured head coach will be back for a 19th season in the fall, with franchise fixtures like Watt and Pat Freiermuth adamant that Tomlin remains the right man for the job.

Yet it's reasonable to expect significant changes to his coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin — who collaborates heavily with Tomlin on the game plan — could move on after Pittsburgh was pushed around with alarming ease throughout its late slide, something Austin seemed to acknowledge ahead of the loss to Baltimore.

“I think the one thing as coaches that we do in our staff is we take pride in what our guys do and how they do it,” he said. "And if we fail or come up short, then we don’t point it at the guys, we put it on us."

Accountability is easy and admirable. Tangible improvement, however, is another matter.

While the Steelers believe they took steps forward in certain areas — they led the league in takeaways and the offense ticked up under first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith — they ended up in the same place they've been for nearly a decade: packing up in mid-January while the playoffs go on without them.

“We need to win football games,” Watt said, later adding, “but I don’t have all the answers as we sit here right now as to what needs to change.”

He's hardly alone.

The QB problem

The Steelers gambled last winter when they signed Russell Wilson and traded for Justin Fields to give them essentially a one-year tryout.

Though there were signs of progress — Fields went 4-2 to begin the season while filling in for an injured Wilson, and Wilson cooked for a bit while winning six of his first seven starts — it dried up late. The Steelers averaged just 14.2 points over their final five games and Wilson's signature “moonballs” largely disappeared.

Wilson and Fields are scheduled to become free agents in March, though each indicated he wanted to stay. Whether either does is a mystery, perhaps even to the Steelers. Who knows what kind of contract Wilson — who threw for 16 touchdowns against five picks — might command on the open market. And while Fields showed flashes, consistency was an issue, one of the reasons Tomlin turned to Wilson despite Pittsburgh's solid start.

The Pickens problem

For all of his otherworldly talent, the reality is third-year wide receiver George Pickens remains an immature enigma. The 23-year-old was fined 10 times by the league for a variety of on-the-field missteps, whether it was starting fights with opponents or writing a message on his eye black, unaware it was against the rules.

Tomlin defended Pickens at nearly every turn, though it's fair to start wondering if the squeeze is worth the juice. Pickens is entering a contract year and if the Steelers decide not to lock him up for the long term, seeing what he might fetch in a trade might be a better option than banking on him handling their decision professionally.

Up next

Sift through the rubble of another quick exit, rework the coaching staff and try to find a way out of the purgatory they've created for themselves.

The list of notable free agents includes all three quarterbacks on the roster (Kyle Allen, too), running back Najee Harris, inside linebacker Elandon Roberts and cornerback Cam Sutton.

Pittsburgh has about $55 million in salary cap space at the moment, the 21st pick in the 2025 draft and no quarterback under contract beyond 3:59 p.m. on March 12.

Another busy and turbulent offseason looms.

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