#Steelers’ insane schedule makes their slump overblown

Let’s not be in such a hurry to bury the Steelers.

Sure, they’ve lost two consecutive games after the 11-0 start. And sure, they look like they’ve lost their mojo in the process.

But the Steelers are still 11-2 (only one team in the league, the Chiefs, has a better record), and they have a chance to earn the No. 1-overall seed in the AFC.

In response to the doom and gloom from the outside world about the Pittsburgh slide, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger borrowed a page from the motivational handbook of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who famously told Green Bay fans to “relax’’ in 2014 with the team struggling (Green Bay got to the NFC title game later that year).

“The season is not over,’’ Roethlisberger said this week. “I want everyone out there to just take a deep breath. I know it’s kind of crazy right now. Take a deep breath. We got time.’’

There are, indeed, some legitimate reasons for the Steelers’ recent slide. It’s difficult to imagine that their disjointed, compacted schedule, because of COVID-19 complications and through no fault of their own, has not slowed their train.

Go back to Week 4, when their game against Tennessee was postponed because of the Titans’ COVID-19 outbreak. That forced the Steelers to take their bye week a month earlier than originally scheduled. Later, with the Ravens’ COVID-19 outbreak moving their game against the Steelers three times, Pittsburgh was forced to play three games in 12 days in December.

This prompted former Steelers nose tackle Chris Hoke on 93.7 The Fan radio in Pittsburgh this week to say they have looked like “a tired team” of late.

“You watch the tape — everybody seemed to me like they were a step behind,’’ Hoke said.

Perhaps this is why the Steelers’ offense has produced just five touchdowns and failed to score more than 19 points in the past three games after being the only team in the league to score at least 26 points in every game before that.

The Steelers’ offense has a chance to get fat again on Monday night when they play at 2-10-1 Cincinnati. Their last big offensive outburst came in the first meeting against Cincinnati on Nov. 15 in Pittsburgh, when Roethlisberger passed for 333 yards and four TDs.

Randy Fichtner, the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, told reporters that he finally has been able to return to a more normal practice routine for the first time in weeks after it was disrupted the compressed schedule. He said he hopes that helps bring back his team’s signature physicality, which has been missing.

“I don’t think we are being as physical as we should be and need to be all the time,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s something we always took pride in, the Pittsburgh Steelers being physical.’’

A big part of being physical is running the ball, and the Steelers have been abysmal in that area of late — averaging just 45.6 yards rushing per game and 2.6 yards per carry in six of the past seven games.

Roethlisberger emphasized that this team already has earned a playoff berth, so the stress of chasing that has long been alleviated.

“We’re in the postseason,’’ he said. “If we’re starting the postseason tomorrow, maybe there’d be a little more panic on our part, like we’ve got to get it figured out right now. We need to get it figured out now, but the good thing is we know we’ve got games after these next three.

“We have three weeks now to get it going, turn it around, to give ourselves the best chance of achieving our ultimate goal, which is winning the Super Bowl.’’