PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – What were the Steelers saying after an improbable 24-10 pasting by the Cardinals at home on Sunday? From TJ Watt saying they got their butts kicked to Jaylen Warren saying they maybe took Arizona too lightly.
Here are comments from the Steelers players and Mike Tomlin about the disappointment in this game.
Defensive captain TJ Watt
“We got our ass kicked. I don’t know if it got away from us. We got pummeled today.”
QB Mitch Trubisky
“Just sloppiness, lack of execution when we got down in the red zone. Shout ourselves in the foot a lot today.”
Mike Tomlin
“That was a horrible day at the office. We didn’t do much right in that game, to be quite honest with you. We’ve got to own that. Obviously starting first and foremost with me. Just losing football, really was.”
LB Alex Highsmith
“It was just beating ourselves. Way too many penalties, lack of execution, it was bad to say the least. We can’t come out and perform lack that.”
WR Allen Robinson
“As a collective, we didn’t execute. We didn’t play well enough. We didn’t take advantage of the opportunities when we had them. This late in the season, you can’t beat yourself and expect to win games.”
“Gut punch, slap in the face, whatever you want to call it.”
S Minkah Fitzpatrick
“It was all on us, we played probably our worst football we played all season, all around the board. When it is stuff we are doing, and it’s not people just outplaying us, it’s not something that can’t be fix. We can fix it. We can correct it. Watch film the next couple of days and keep it moving.”
Was it the weather that caused issues for this team? Did the delays lead to the performance on Sunday?
“Screw the delay, we should have been prepared,” said defensive captain Cam Heyward. “Before the delays even happened, we were down 17-3. We had already dug ourselves a hole.”
“You name it, we lost it.”
“Adversity was thrown our way, but the type of team that you have is shown in how you respond to times of adversity,” Highsmith said. “They came out and punched us in the mouth. They came out and performed and we didn’t. We let it get the best of us. It’s not winning football. We have to fix that ASAP and come out and make a statement on Thursday.”
Did getting stopped at fourth-and-goal from the one early in the game set the tone?
“As an offensive line, when you have short-yardage, goal-line opportunities like that, you have to push the ball in,” said Steelers tackle Dan Moore. “Really disappointed in that drive. You talk about going for it on fourth down, driving all the way to the one-yard line and coming up with no points, definitely a momentum swing right there.”
“We got to be more mentally tough. We lack execution as an offense and mental toughness in certain situations. Not converting on third downs is one of those examples. We got to help our defense out and keep drives alive.”
“Today felt like a weird day across the board, we weren’t good enough,” said center Mason Cole, who took blame for the bad snap that he said cost his team a touchdown. “We were good all week, had a good week of practice. Had a really good game plan, just didn’t execute it today. It just wasn’t our day. No excuse for that. We will have to wipe the slate clean and get a win in four days.”
“We just didn’t come with our ‘A’ game, it’s simple,” said receiver Diontae Johnson. “We needed this one, it would have been good. We just got to move forward and get back to work.”
While several players said they didn’t overlook a two-win team and were adamant about it, there was one player who thought they didn’t bring the right preparation or mindset.
“I feel like we came out and took them a little lightly than we should have,” said Steelers tailback Jaylen Warren. “We just can’t do that.”
Another struggling team come into Acrisure Stadium on Thursday night. What Steelers team will we see against the Patriots?