ALTOONA, Pa. -- The offensive line woes have plagued the Steelers throughout their 7-7-1 season so far and have skeptics far and wide talking about the poor play and whether it's a fixable problem or not.
Wide receiver Diontae Johnson has had enough of that talk though.
"I'm getting tired of people talking bad about the line," Johnson said on a Zoom call Monday afternoon. "If it's so easy, why don't you come out here and do it for us? Show me that you can do it better than me."
The line issues are a microcosm of the bigger issues that have thwarted any sort of offensive success for the Steelers thus far, but hey, they're still trying.
"They're trying. They're doing the best they can," Johnson said.
It's been far from the greatest of times for the offensive line as former offensive line coach Adrian Klemm is off to the University of Oregon for a similar position as of Monday afternoon with Chris Morgan assuming his duties.
The line, while a major problem, is one of many problems just on the offensive side of the ball alone. The Steelers offense mustered a total of 10 points Sunday afternoon while the Chiefs hung 36 on a team that didn't look interested in being there.
"We’ve just got to do a better job coming off the bus with better energy and taking the field with a purpose, which is winning, obviously," Johnson said. "I feel like we’re going to do that this week because these last two games are going to be big for us. We need to win them."
Johnson is right, the Steelers have an outside shot of making the playoffs and sit currently in 10th place in the AFC standings with games against Cleveland and Baltimore left on the schedule. The Steelers have beat both teams already this season, but whether that can happen again remains to be seen.
Until then though, the Steelers are back to the drawing board and according to Johnson there were a lot more cars than normal at the practice facility this morning with players there to get a jumpstart on film and treatment for the week. The Steelers are going to need much more help than just film study to take down their next two opponents which isn't lost on Johnson.
"We ... talked to us in the locker room yesterday, basically saying we’ve got to get on our stuff, get in the facility in general, watch film, work out, just do something.," Johnson said.
Though the hope is dwindling outside the organization, the players and staff are still holding out hope for another playoff berth and winning season.
"We're not done," Johnson said. "I wouldn't count us out just yet."
