If you thought Pittsburgh Steelers fans were upset after their blowout loss Sunday, wait until you hear what a former player had to say.

ESPN analyst Ryan Clark went on a rant of nearly 2 minutes during Monday morning’s “Get Up” program. The ex-Steelers safety started it by saying, “They’re not my beloved Steelers anymore,” and he ended it with the line: “You better change something, you better do something, or this will be Mike Tomlin’s first losing season.”

Clark spent eight seasons with the Steelers, playing in two Super Bowls and winning the Super Bowl XLIII after the 2008 season. In four of Clark’s eight seasons, the defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL; in three seasons, the defense was No. 1 in points allowed.

But of the Steelers’ 2021 defense that has allowed 41 points in each of the past two games, Clark said: “They ain’t stopping a nosebleed.”

— Bob Pompeani (@KDPomp) November 29, 2021

“Nobody’s scared to play this team. There’s absolutely no physicality, there’s no energy defensively, there’s no tone-setters. You have one of the best playmaking free safeties in football in Minkah Fitzpatrick, and you know what he is? He’s a fifth linebacker because you won’t tackle anybody in the front. Joe Mixon is flexing, he’s throwing balls in the stands. You know why? Because you all don’t scare nobody.”

Mixon had a career-high 165 rushing yards on 28 carries during Sunday’s 41-10 win by the Cincinnati Bengals against the Steelers, who have now given up 586 rushing yards over a three-game winless streak.

Clark seemed to get personal by implying he was taking the Steelers’ struggles personally as an alumnus. Dating to last season, the Steelers are 6-10-1 since winning their first 11 games of 2020.

“It’s not about upholding what Joe Greene did, what (Jack) Lambert did, it’s not about doing what James Harrison did, Casey Hampton, James Farrior, Troy Polamalu,” Clark said, reeling off several former Steelers defensive greats. “Those days are gone. We wanna be cute (now), right? We want to make videos, we wanna do Tik Toks, we wanna dance in the locker room, we wanna be the team that everyone loves to be around. We wanna make jokes, we wanna smile, we wanna have fun.

“Pittsburgh football ain’t about having fun. Pittsburgh football is about dominating people on the field because of your physicality. But that ain’t what y’all want. What y’all want to do is you want to show up and y’all want to live on the backs of legends. Don’t nobody care about that no more. Young people aren’t respectful to the past. In the past, Pittsburgh was something. This Pittsburgh defense ain’t jack — and I ain’t talking about Jack Lambert, I ain’t talking about Jack Ham, I’m talking about Jack-, and you know the rest of the word. Y’all ain’t that.

“So now when Pittsburgh shows up to the stadium, people like (Bengals quarterback) Joe Burrow, people like Joe Mixon, people like (Bengals receiver) Tee Higgins, you know what they do? They call their girlfriends, they call their wives, and they say, ‘Baby, you’ve got to show up to this game — you know why? Because we’re gonna win fantasy football for somebody.”

Clark has worked for ESPN since 2015.

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