The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2018 NFL season with strong chances of winning title No. 7.
The offense was set to put up league-leading numbers with Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le'Veon Bell. The defense, while the weakest link was being asked to do just enough to hold teams at bay.
However, the game is not played on paper, and the Steelers were in trouble right from the start of training camp.
With Bell holding out, the team was divided. Some supported his stance while others scoffed at his loyalty. Roethlisberger entered the year still fighting off Father Time and Brown, held his emotions in until he couldn't anymore.
But still, this is a veteran bunch coming off a 13-3 season. What happened?
The Steelers finished the 2018 season with a record of 9-6-1, missed the playoffs, and will head into the offseason looking to right a ship that may be too damaged.
Roethlisberger will be 37 in 2019. Brown wants out, Bell is gone, and Mike Tomlin's leadership is in question.
For a team with dreams of a Super Bowl appearance, the Pittsburgh Steelers fell flat on their face. What's more heartbreaking moving forward is that there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel anytime soon.
Here are 3 things that went wrong for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018.
3. Chemistry
Imagine a team that features one of the best QB's in the NFL, arguably the best WR and RB, and they still managed to miss the playoffs.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, this was their reality. Asking a team with three future Hall of Fame players to play without one another when all are healthy is a tall task.
While some teams may be able to get over that hump, the Steelers struggled. Big Ben still managed to pass for 5124 yards with 34 touchdowns and 16 interceptions while completing 67 percent of his passes.
On the receiving end, Brown caught 104 passes for 1297 and 15 TD's while Bell ran for zero yards and zero touchdowns. Yes, Bell's absence was damaging but Bell was not the only reason for the Steelers' chemistry issues.
This season, it appeared that the Steelers were more of a “stat-stuffing” team than one of a common goal. Brown was always the threat going vertical but the explosion of JuJu Smith-Schuster may have caused more damage than good. The same goes for breakout star James Conner who replaced Bell. While good (973 yards rushing), he's still not Bell.
For a team that has relied so much on their three stars, adding two more may have caused issues no one saw coming. The offensive numbers were great but the results team-wise was not.
Chemistry is a big part of a teams' success and the Steelers faltered in that department.
2. Unable To Take Advantage Of Easy Schedule
When the season started, the Steelers' schedule appeared to be pretty formidable. However, teams who made noise last season and entered the year with Super Bowl hopes, never panned out.
The decline began with their season-opener tie against the Browns. From there, the Steelers would also lose to the Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, and the hapless Oakland Raiders.
The Steelers would play in six games against playoff teams in 2018, losing four of those. Losing to the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints is nothing to lower your head over but losses to the Raiders and Broncos easily ended their season.
After their bye week in Week 7, the Steelers would play four playoff-bound teams in their final 10 games. This was their chance to make up ground. No such luck.
Although they would enter their Week 12 game against the Broncos riding a six-game winning streak, they would go on to lose three straight which put them in a position to rely on help, chemistry, and prayer.
When looking over the season, Mike Tomlin will think back to those Raiders and Broncos games and gut punch himself.
1. Drama
Overcoming team issues is nothing new in sports. The Pittsburgh Steelers felt plenty of heat and eyes on them this year.
With Bell and his contract issue being a dark cloud over the team, they also had to deal with questions regarding the job security of Tomlin as well.
And how can we forget the infamous tweet when he responded to a fans' criticism of him earlier this year that Big Ben was the reason for his success. Brown's response may have been in jest but it struck a nerve and was another nail in the coffin.
The drama goes farther than the play on the field and criticism from outside of the organization.
To be fair, the Steelers have planned well for the future except for the successor of Big Ben. Antonio Brown sees the writing on the wall and Le'Veon Bell was not shy about voicing his concerns that their run is over.
With the emergence of Smith-Schuster and Connor, it appears that it's out with the old and in with the new.
Now, there are reports that the Steelers are listening to trade demand for Brown.
If this is true, then one can see why there was a decline in wins for the team but not in terms of stats.
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