Veterans Haden, Turner convinced Steelers have what it takes to rebound

Neither began his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but as two of the team’s most experienced players Joe Haden and Trai Turner have seen it all in the NFL.

Mostly, they’ve seen losing. Haden’s career began with seven consecutive losing seasons as part of the Cleveland Browns. Turner has been part of five sub-.500 teams in his prior seven NFL seasons.

As such, each can recognize when a team has no shot. And with the Steelers off to a 1-3 start and riding a three-game losing streak, that knowledge suddenly has become prescient.

Turner and Haden, though, insist these Steelers aren’t hopeless.

“We just have to be able to weather the storm,” Haden said Monday, “and I am not the least bit wavered at all.”

The Steelers are among the worst teams in the league in scoring offense and total yards, and they have lost the past three games by at least nine points each. Add the 1-5 finish to last season (including a blowout playoff loss), and fans and observers are understandably skeptical the Steelers are capable of turnaround.

Publicly, at least, their players maintain if the Steelers stay the course, they will move back into contention.

“We still have some time,” said Turner, a five-time Pro Bowl guard with the Carolina Panthers who was signed by the Steelers over the summer. “I believe in everyone on our staff, and I believe in the players that we have on the field. And I feel like it’s only a matter of time.”

While it’s true that the Steelers have the benefit of 13 weeks remaining in the season, that time is running out quickly: they already are two games out of second-to-last place in the AFC North, where each of the three other teams is 3-1.

A 12-year veteran cornerback in his fifth season with the Steelers, Haden’s faith in the prospects of a turnaround are based on two beliefs: The team’s defense is elite, and, in the NFL, anything is possible.

“I have been in this league for a long time, and there is so much parity in the NFL,” Haden said during a video conference call with media. “It’s one or two plays. It’s not like we are getting blown out. It’s always one or two plays. So just two plays here or there, we can have a completely different record.”

In grasping at straws to justify the Steelers’ slow start, consider that each of the four teams they have played is in first place. Those four teams have a combined record of 9-2 when not playing the Steelers.

The problem with that logic? None of their next four opponents has a losing record, either, including the 3-1 Denver Broncos that visit Heinz Field this coming Sunday.

In short, it won’t be an easy hole to escape. And putting aside the specifics of all that ails them, the Steelers are preaching a keep-it-simple approach.

“Sometimes I think we get into this mindset of doing more, and that doesn’t always help,” Turner said. “We just have to continue to bear down and work on our basic fundamentals, keying in on those and just go out there and play football. It’s never a perfect player out there (where) you have to go out there and you have to be everything.”

The 2019 Steelers rebounded from 1-4 to get to 8-5. The year before that, they went on a six-game winning streak after a listless 1-2-1 start. Further back — when the only current Steelers on the team were Ben Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward — the 2013 team bounced back from 0-4 and 2-6 to win six of their final eight.

All those teams managed to claw their way back to serious playoff contention by December.

“With the veteran team that we have, with these players, with these coaches, coach (Mike) Tomlin, we are coming in each week with a great gameplan that we can beat any team,” Haden said, “and that’s genuine that we can do that.

“We have the talent. We have the playmakers and can make it happen. There’s nothing outside that we need. It’s all in-house. We have all the answers to the problems.”

Note: The Steelers signed nose tackle Eli Ankou to the practice squad. Ankou, 27, who played collegiately at UCLA, has been with seven other organiztions since 2017. He most recently was in camp with the Atlanta Falcons.

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