PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Forget about it. It sounds like a line from an actor with a heavy New York accent. It’s part of the message from Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson to his offense heading into Saturday night.
While the defense has struggled, the Steelers offense has scored only 10 points in the second half total the last three weeks. Against Philly, they could only manage two possessions in the second half. Against the Chiefs, only one touchdown for the game. They’ve also had five turnovers over the three-game stretch.
“I think the most important thing is you’ve got to have amnesia,” Wilson said this week. “You’ve got to have amnesia in this game.”
“There's going to be highs, there's going to be lows throughout a game, throughout a season, throughout all that, and just having amnesia. That's when the great things are happening, to be able to move on and move to the next play, and I think that's going to be key for winning football as we go here and search for what we're all searching for.”
Since after the loss to Kansas City, players have shared their thoughts, first publicly, but then amongst themselves. They have been honest conversation about what is plaguing this team and not just on defense, but offense as well. Tackle Dan Moore said they have to self-reflect while communicating better on-and-off the field while being real with each other. He believes that will also help them have amnesia, by airing it out and moving forward.
“It’s such a close team, I think everyone values everyone’s opinions,” Moore said. “I think it just means more, especially when you hear it from a brother. We know we have to play better in every phase. It all comes down to execution. When we get in a stadium, everything we talk about we got to go out and execute.”
Wilson said it frees you from the negativity and allows you to focus on the work. He said the offense needs to be obsessed with the work. It’s not a full remake or reinvention that needs to happen, Wilson said it’s as simple as getting back to the fundamentals. Focus on playing clean football, but the 13-year veteran said while doing that, they can’t play scared. They need to be aggressive in their mentality and approach, they can’t play conservative, just clean by doing all of those little things right.
“There's no magic pill for getting around it,” Wilson said. “We just focus on the work and we focus on the next pitch (using a baseball reference which he occasionally does), the next play. And I think that's the great part about this game, is it allows you to play the next play. And I think the best thing we can do is continue to do that, and also just get a little cleaner on some things, and then at the same time know that as you get into the playoffs, everything is 0-0.”
Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said he’s liked how they’ve moved the ball in the last two weeks, they just haven’t taken advantage of their opportunities, especially with red-zone turnovers.
“You’ve got to win those critical possession downs,” Smith said. “The defense is going to have a say. It's always going to be true in the history of this game. But when you have your opportunities, you can't have self-inflicted wounds.”
Last time this offense really got going was against the Bengals. Wilson threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns, four receivers had over 50 yards, Najee Harris had 129 total yards. They had eight different receivers catches passes of at least 20 yards.
“We did some great things,” Wilson said. “We scored touchdowns in crucial situations, we answered and we didn't blink. We didn't blink. And we can't blink now. Can't blink now.”
“I don't get all giddy inside,” Smith said. “If we beat Cincinnati like we did last time and have 500 yards and whatever it was, 40 points, at the end of the day, it's about winning. If you lose sight on winning, to me, you're not doing your job.”
“If we can make sure we execute cleaner and don't turn the ball over, I think we'll have the opportunity to score more points. Simple as that.”
“I think that we want to be champions, we’ve got to communicate that way,” Wilson said. “We’ve got to think that way. We can't blink, and champions don't focus on the negative stuff. They fix it, they move on, and they focus on what helps them win. And that's all the things that we have in this locker room.”
“I'm looking forward to the opportunity to play at home, last game of the year, in front of our fans in the regular season and then here we go with the playoffs. So, we want to finish it the right way.”