PITTSBURGH — A lot went wrong for the Pittsburgh Steelers on offense in Sunday’s 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, but the most frustrating part was likely the unit’s inability to execute even the most simple of details.
Once in the second half, the Steelers had to call a timeout because they didn’t have enough players in the huddle. Twice in the game, they were flagged for illegal formation for not having enough players on the line of scrimmage.
That happening in Week 14 is just inexcusable, several Steelers said.
“It’s very frustrating,” tight end Pat Freiermuth said. “We’ve had the same formations for three years now, the names of them. It’s pretty frustrating.”
“Oftentimes I say routine things routinely,” head coach Mike Tomlin said. “There needs to be extreme urgency around the routine things so that they are routine. And they weren’t in that instance and they cost us. It cost us in a big way. We had three pre-snap penalties that hurt our efforts, and that’s just unacceptable, particularly at this juncture.”
So what needs to be done to fix it?
“Study the game plan longer,” Freiermuth suggested. “Communicate. Line up where you’re supposed to line up.”
“It’s just little things. Nothing that practice won’t fix,” tackle Dan Moor e Jr. said. “We’ve just gotta put it behind us. We’ve got a big game coming up Thursday. It’s a quick turnaround. We’re going to put this game behind us and continue to grow. …
“Every week, we have a different game plan. Just continuing to implement new plays and try different things in new schemes, that plays a factor into it. You’ve just got to get the repetition at it and just be better.”