To this point, the Steelers are receiving criticism from all sides while looking inward in the locker room. But the most damning criticism is coming from former Steelers, and none more prominent than Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger theorized that the Steelers way could be dead at this point and that maybe the team’s tradition is just done. He does not see any leaders that are putting people in their place.
“Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done,” Roethlisberger said on his podcast, Footbahlin. “Who is grabbing someone by the face mask and saying, ‘That’s not what we do.’ Is that happening? Yes, you have guys on defense doing it, but you need guys on both sides of the ball doing it. You need someone to stand up in that room, on offense, and be like, ‘Hey, this isn’t what it means to wear the black and gold.”
Those whispers reached back to the Steelers locker room, where one of Roethlisberger’s former teammates, Najee Harris, responded to the idea that the Steelers way is dead. Roethlisberger was not the only person to make that comment this week, as safety Ryan Clark said that ‘zero people’ care about it anymore. But Harris shrugged it off.
“Ben can have his opinion,” Harris said. “I’m not trying to sit here and say if he’s right or wrong. I don’t know how to answer that. Ben is a Hall of Famer. Ben’s obviously been here, he’s won a Super Bowl and he knows what the standard is as someone credible. I got here his last year, so I can’t really say I know what the Steeler way is, but he’s been here with Troy, been here with Jerome. He knows that. So, someone on the outside sees that, he’s been on this field, so maybe you can guess and say he’s right. But I don’t know.”
However, while Harris does not have the proximity to those guys, Cam Heyward did. He knows what the Steelers way is and how it operates. He disagrees with Roethlisberger’s criticism of the culture and instead thinks that the team can easily correct it with a win. Heyward thinks it was nothing more than a slip-up.
“Ben has an opinion, and he’s entitled to that, but I don’t agree,” Heyward said on Good Morning Football. “We lost these last two games, and it’s been rough. But the Steelers way is about grinding it out and it doesn’t matter what’s going on. So, there is plenty to be done about it, and the tradition starts by winning games, having good defense, scoring points. So, hopefully we can adjust to that this week.”
Despite back-to-back losses to 2-10 teams at home, the Steelers still hold the No. 6 seed in the AFC Playoff picture. The season can still be salvaged, they just need to take it one game at a time and win on Saturday in Indianapolis. Leaders such as Fitzpatrick, Watt and Heyward can only do so much. They need the rest of the players to buy-in. If not and things continue to unravel, expect sweeping changes with the coaching staff and roster in the 2024 offseason.