Steelers not panicking about playoff hopes

For the second time in less than a month, the Pittsburgh Steelers returned home from a shellacking that was one of the biggest-margin defeats of the Mike Tomlin era.

“That,” receiver Diontae Johnson said Monday of the prior day’s 36-10 loss in Kansas City, “was embarrassing.”

So was the 31-point loss Nov. 28 in Cincinnati. And in between, roughly two-thirds of a loss at Minnesota featured a 29-0 deficit.

After each of the first two, though, the Steelers followed with a home victory against an AFC opponent. They’ll get another — final — chance this coming Monday when they host the Cleveland Browns in the Heinz Field season finale.

It’d be unfair to point out that the Steelers “are getting used to” losing so badly on the road. But it might not be so unfair to suggest the routine of bouncing back from humiliating defeats contributed to a surprisingly upbeat, almost defiant tone from two Steelers veterans Monday.

“We don’t have enough time to be too down on ourselves,” linebacker Robert Spillane said. “It’s all about focusing on the next one, and that’s what this grind of an NFL season is all about. Yeah, you can rest on your laurels and think back and be sorry for yourself. But honestly, we don’t have time to do that right now.

“We are still in the hunt for a playoff spot, and we need to dedicate all our efforts on focusing on beating the Browns.”

Diontae Johnson on his “off” day (drop, fumble, etc), says he’s put it behind him and was just “one of those days” pic.twitter.com/VspqiCkI5C

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) December 27, 2021

Mathematically, it’s possible the Steelers (7-7-1) still could be alive if they lose Monday. But in all likelihood, by the time the game kicks off, a defeat to the Browns would set up the third game of the Ben Roethlisberger era (since 2004) the Steelers would play knowing they’re eliminated from playoff contention.

Not the way the team wants to (perhaps) send its future Hall of Fame quarterback out. Though nothing is official, it is thought Monday’s game will be the final one at home for the soon-to-be-40-year-old Roethlisberger.

A player who often talks in almost reverential terms about Roethlisberger, Johnson wouldn’t go so far as to say they are rallying around the idea to win one for Big Ben. But he was speaking with a conviction he hasn’t conveyed all that often over his three NFL seasons.

“I am not really worried about our guys,” Johnson said. “I have faith in our guys.”

Johnson noted a crowded parking lot Monday at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, perhaps less than 12 hours after players got home following an early-evening game played halfway across the continent.

“I see a lot of guys’ cars that are here that, on certain days, I don’t know would (typically) be here,” Johnson said. “Some guys have come in and are trying to be in the facility probably watching film, just doing something to get better.

“After that loss, I am sure stuff is going through their head for how we can bounce back to get better for Monday. I am sure the coaches are going to come out with a good gameplan this week, and we are going to execute it the best way we know how to.”

The Steelers have issues in myriad areas, and that’s been reflected during this period of two wins in their past seven games. But a pair of wins down the stretch puts the odds on their side to make the postseason.

“Frustration tends to come high when mistakes continue to pile up at this point of the season,” Spillane said. “Even when you’re winning games, you are making mistakes — but it might be covered up by the win. When you’re losing, it’s amplified that much more. Just being able to learn and come back this week and not make the same mistakes, that’s our goal as individuals and our goal as a defense moving forward.”

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