Pittsburgh Steelers: Did the team overlook the Jags in the AFC Playoffs?
By Derek Snyder
Pittsburgh Steelers star running back, Le’Veon Bell, questioned his team’s focus against the Jags in the AFC Playoffs; nevertheless, leading to even more questions than before.
While the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles were preparing to square off in Super Bowl 52, Pittsburgh Steelers superstar, Le’Veon Bell, questioned his team’s focus against the Jaguars. You’d think the Steelers would’ve been mentally prepared to face the third-seeded Jacksonville squad in the AFC’s Divisional Round, but according to Bell, that’s not necessarily true.
Just to preface, Bell was invited to come on CBS Sports Radio to discuss the team’s 2017-2018 season with “Tiki and Tierney”. Needless to say, when asked about the Steelers mindset against Jaguars a few weeks ago, the former Michigan State standout didn’t hold back.
Take a look at Bell’s quote from Adam Bittner’s article on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"“I don’t know. Maybe it was the bye week. I don’t know. Maybe we needed to play. I mean, last year, the three seed just like the Jaguars were, we came out there, we’re going out there beating everybody because we had that little swagger about us.“I feel like, yeah, guys got complacent. We have the bye week. We have home. We’re playing against the Jaguars. It’s whatever. That’s how guys looked at it, you know?”"
I don’t know about you, but the sentence that concerned me the most was “That’s how guys looked at it, you know?”. For a team who was dominated by the Jaguars earlier in the season, that’s an extremely dumb attitude to have. Still, we have to take what Bell said about his teammates with a grain of salt.
According to Bittner’s article, Bell was late to the game and missed the majority of the team’s walk-through the same week. Needless to say, if there’s someone who shouldn’t be throwing the first stone, it’s most-definitely Bell.
At the end of the day, it seems like there needs to be some leadership changes within the Steelers locker room this offseason. This isn’t a franchise or fanbase that is satisfied with falling in the AFC Divisional Round each season. If things don’t change fast, don’t be surprised if Mike Tomlin’s seat gets a little bit hotter.
I’m not saying Tomlin is the person who needs to leave; however, I am saying Pittsburgh needs their veteran players to step-up and become the leaders this organization pays them to be.
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With that said, how did Bell’s reaction sit with you, Steelers fans? Do you think this team has the right leadership in place?