PITTSBURGH STEELERS DEFENSIVE TACKLE CAMERON HEYWARD (97) AND PITTSBURGH STEELERS HEAD COACH MIKE TOMLIN DURING A REGULAR SEASON GAME BETWEEN THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS AND THE CINCINNATI BENGALS, SUNDAY, DEC. 1, 2024 IN CINCINNATI, OH. | PHOTO BY JARED WICKERHAM / PITTSBURGH STEELERS

It’s gone from bad to unfathomable for the Steelers, and it might get worse before it gets better.

If it gets better.

A team that just a few short weeks ago was 4-1 and threatening to lock up the AFC North Division championship before Thanksgiving is suddenly 4-3 and reeling in advance of a pending visit from the Indianapolis Colts, who happen to own the NFL’s best record at 7-1.

The Colts also happen to be fueled by the NFL’s best offense, one that averages 383.3 yards and 33.8 points per game.

Dealing with that would be a daunting challenge in the best of times.

And for the Steelers, these clearly aren’t those.

Not after the Disaster in Cincinnati was followed up by the Collapse at Acrisure.

And not after defensive tackle Cam Heyward emerged from Packers 35, Steelers 25 admitting “there’s not enough fight on our side.”

Not enough fight?

Can there be a more glaring indictment?

The fact this acknowledgement came from an in-house observation and not a cheap shot from the cheap seats ought to be all the more alarming to any true Terrible Towel-twirling Yinzer.

Yes, the schematics/coaching are open to scrutiny, especially when the defense has been as bad as it’s been of late.

And yes, the ability of some of those brought in to take the coaching and execute the schemes absolutely needs to be revisited.

But the prerequisite level of fight from within ought to be a given.

And if you don’t have that, what chance do you really have?

You can fight to the bitter end and still not win.

But if you don’t, you’re doomed to lose against quality teams such as Green Bay.

Or Indianapolis, for that matter.

Heyward’s accusation was confirmed by head coach Mike Tomlin, who characterized what was glaringly lacking against the Packers as more a matter of response than effort. Tomlin bemoaned the Steelers’ inability to make a game-changing play on offense, defense or special teams once the momentum had swung decidedly and dramatically in Green Bay’s favor.

“I didn’t think we did a good enough job recovering and finding our footing as a collective,” Tomlin assessed.

Could the lack of fight have had something/everything to do with that?

It’s one thing to succumb to a couple of fluke passes that were misplayed into field-flipping, game-changing plays and a penalty that should have been called but wasn’t. Those plays conspired to help quickly turn a 16-7, third-quarter lead into a 22-19 fourth-quarter deficit.

It’s quite another to accept the game continuing to spiral out of hand as inevitable.

“If you continue to feel sorry for yourself it’s going to avalanche, and this was a clear case of that,” Heyward added late Sunday night. “I think this is a lesson we all can learn from. Hopefully, it hits home fast.”

Until it does, what were once perceived as potentially critical issues are no longer the Steelers’ primary concerns.

Those would include whether they can:

• Stop a running back of the caliber of the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor.
• Cover a tight end as resourceful as the Colts’ Tyler Warren.
• Cover a wide receiver as explosive as the Colts’ Alec Pierce.
• Or cover a wide receiver as combative as the Colts’ Michael Pittman.

The Steelers’ success also will be determined if they get enough complementary contributions from wide receivers Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson or primary contributions from wide receiver DK Metcalf, and whether enough sacks and turnovers can consistently serve as an eraser for their opponents’ yardage gained.

Unless what happened against Green Bay hits home fast, Indianapolis in November is going to look a lot like Baltimore last January.

Back then a disappointing season at least came to a merciful end.

This time there will still be nine games left to play, and at this rate that might be as hard to fathom as it would be to stomach.

Mike Prisuta is the sports anchor/reporter for Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. He’s also the host of the Steelers Radio Network Pregame Show and the color analyst for Robert Morris University men’s hockey broadcasts.