The Steelers’ playoff hopes took a big hit on Sunday with the loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Not only did Kenny Pickett get hurt, but the Steelers had one of the worst losses this season.
Andrew Fillipponi of the Audacy original podcast “1st & Pod” sounded off on head coach Mike Tomlin and the Steelers after what he called “the worst loss in the NFL this season.”
“The Steelers had the worst loss of the day by far,” Fillipponi said (27:40 in player above). “So the question here is are they in trouble? You’re damn right they’re in trouble.”
Sunday’s matchup against the Cardinals was supposed to be the Steelers’ eighth win of the season. Instead, they fell flat and that blame starts with the head coach.
“But what happened (Sunday), to me, was an indictment on Mike Tomlin,” Fillipponi continued. “This idea that he is one of these great NFL coaches who raises the level of his team and makes them competitive and relevant at all times. They came out, even before the Pickett injury, they settled for a field goal on their opening drive and then they did absolutely nothing after that.”
The Steelers got down to the 1-yard line on the drive Pickett got hurt, but they failed to score on a fourth-down shotgun run play to Najee Harris. The Cardinals then went 99 yards down the field to take a 10-3 lead into halftime.
“It took all of the life out of the stadium, out of them, wind out of their sails. They were never the same. They end up losing. It’s a terrible look,” Fillipponi said. “It’s probably, if you think about it, it’s probably the worst loss in the NFL this season.”
Fillipponi pointed out how badly the Rams beat up the Cardinals last week. Matt Stafford threw for four touchdowns and Kyren Williams ran for 143 yards on 16 carries in the 37-14 win.
While some teams have lost on the road to inferior opponents, there haven’t been many road upsets by basement dwellers.
“Who are the bad teams? How many of them have gone on the road and won this year?” Fillipponi continued. “The Patriots won in New York very early in the year, beat Zach Wilson. Who cares.”
The Eagles lost to the Jets, but that was on the road. The Cowboys also lost to this Cardinals team, but that was in Arizona.
This was a downright ugly loss for the Steelers.
“I don’t think any team lost a game at home to a team this bad all year,” Fillipponi concluded.