The Pittsburgh Steelers entered Saturday’s wild-card game against the Baltimore Ravens on a four-game losing streak and were trying to buck a trend of slow starts in their past playoff games.
They did not do that, as they fell into a 21-0 halftime deficit and showed no push or fight on either side of the ball.
Amazon Prime announcer Kirk Herbstreit reached a point where he had seen enough and called out the Steelers’ effort and lack of fight.
It is a fair question.
It can be difficult to actively question the effort and motivation of professional athletes given what they go through to reach that level and prepare for games, especially when it comes to a collective group. But the Steelers were not only losing at that point, they were getting bullied on both sides of the field. Given the way they played over the past four weeks, and given the way they have played in every playoff game since their last playoff win in the 2016 season, it all just looked the same.
The Steelers recorded 59 total yards in the first half, while the Ravens had 308. Quarterback Russell Wilson was 7-of-9 for 44 yards and only led his team to two first downs.
It looked like a team going through the motions and a team that had no answers for anything.
