The Steelers slipped to 3-2 on Sunday via the worst home loss since 2006. The 30-9 defeat has sparked plenty of chatter and criticism, primarily directed to the offensive side of the ball.
One of the key players on the defensive side of the ball believes everything will be fine.
“I feel like the team’s going to be all right,” linebacker Ryan Shazier said during a visit to Thursday’s PFT Live. “You know, everybody from the outside looking in always has something to say and they don’t really know what’s going on in our locker room, and when things don’t go the way that everybody from the outside looking in expects it to go, they always find a way to attack the team or attack the leadership on the team. I think that’s whats happening right now, but I feel like everything’s fine. We’re going to get back on track and then we’re just going to have to let everybody from the outside looking in jump back on the bandwagon when everything’s going back the way we want it to.”
The fact that Shazier hopes the team will get back on track implies that there’s a need to get back on track.
“I understand that it’s a lot of stuff going on, and at the end of the day we just can’t allow those things to be distractions and we’ve just got to play football, because those little things can end up getting bigger and bigger throughout the year, and we just got to grow up and just play football and focus on football, because that’s what our job is,” Shazier said. “So I think we’re going to get back on track and throughout the rest of the season we’re going to be fine.”
Shazier believes that, to a certain extent, the Steelers have become a victim of their success.
"[A]fter a while when you get a lot of attention, people are always going to find something to pick at and I think that’s what the offense, that’s what they’re trying to do,” Shazier said. “They’re always trying to find something to pick at with our offense, and I think that’s why people are starting to question the things that are going on, but we know that they’re going to be back on track. We know that they’re going to be all right and I think that we’re going to be fine.”
The process of getting to the point where everything is fine has yet to result in a players-only meeting.
“Not yet, because honestly we don’t feel like we need it,” Shazier said. “We all understand the scenario. We all understand the importance of what’s going on through the season and honestly I feel like everybody knows what they need to do and what we need to get done. If you can just look in the eyes of each other and talk to each other and just see what’s going on then we can tell that, ‘Hey everything’s not going the way we want to,’ and honestly I think that’s going to get us back on track.”
They can go a long way toward getting back on track if the Steelers beat the Chiefs on Sunday. It would push the Steelers to 4-2 and immediately change the narratives that have emerged after the Week Five failure against Jacksonville.