Things aren’t going well for the Pittsburgh Steelers right now. They’re winless in their first two games, despite some expecting them to be a serious contender in the AFC this season, having tied the Browns and lost to the Chiefs to open the year.
Beyond a rough start on the field, the locker room appears to be on the brink of completely falling apart. Star running back Le’Veon Bell remains a holdout, looking for a long-term deal, and his continued absence has led to many of his offensive linemen to publicly criticize him.
Star receiver Antonio Brown isn’t holding out, but he’s clearly not happy with the team right now. Brown was visibly upset on the sidelines towards the end of Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, and did not stick around long in the locker room after the game. That’s something that will happen in the heat of the moment, but it appears frustrations continue to linger.
On Monday, Brown fired off a response to Twitter criticism from a former member of the Steelers PR staff that he wouldn’t be much without Ben Roethlisberger, saying “trade me” so we can all find out. That raised some eyebrows, and according to Ed Bouchette and Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Brown was a no-show at the Steelers facility for Monday’s meetings and film study.
Bouchette and Dulac note that it’s unknown if Brown’s absence was excused by Mike Tomlin, and if it was, then this might be a whole to-do about nothing. But if it were an unplanned absence, it does seem to be just the latest fuel to the fire of drama and discontent inside the walls of the Steelers locker room. For a team with lofty expectations coming into the season, this is certainly not the start they wanted or needed, and it looks from the outside like it’s rapidly getting away from them, nearing the point of no return.
However, as we know, winning fixes everything and the next four games against reasonably competitive teams could be the deciding factor in whether Pittsburgh ever gets things turned around for 2018. A road game against the surprisingly explosive Bucs and Ryan Fitzpatrick is up next, followed by the Ravens and Falcons at home and then a road trip to Cincinnati. A 3-1 or 4-0 stretch here would likely quiet concerns in Pittsburgh, but if they’re headed into their bye week at 2-3-1 or worse, the chatter will only grow louder.
