Steelers' Elliott: We 'shit the bed in the end'

Steelers safety DeShon Elliott had some feelings about Pittsburgh losing in the wild-card round for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

"I know that in the past, we've played well in the beginning of the season and then we just shit the bed in the end," Elliott told reporters after Pittsburgh's 28-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

"Same shit happened this year. Close the season out on a five-game losing streak, including the playoffs. We got to figure out what's the problem. We got to figure out to get better."

Baltimore ran for 299 yards on a Pittsburgh defense that ranked inside the top 10 in rushing yards allowed this season. The Ravens had 308 total yards in the opening two quarters, the most by an offense in the first half of a playoff game in the last five years, according to The Ringer's Sheil Kapadia.

"Having 300 yards rushing on you is worse than having 300 yards passing," Elliott said. "They definitely put belt to butt today."

Pittsburgh has the most salary allocated to the defensive side of the ball in the NFL this season and fourth-fewest to its offense, according to Over The Cap. The $137.2-million mark of cap space spent on the defense is over $20 million more than the next closest team. The four highest-paid players on the team are all defenders, including T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Patrick Queen.

But that defensive spending hasn't translated into great results: The unit ranked 15th in yards allowed per game and 20th in success rate in 2024, per SumerSports.

"We just got too comfortable," Queen said postgame when asked what went wrong with the defense down the stretch, according to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic.

"Started chasing too many things. I think we just left off the pedal, in all seriousness. That stuff can't happen, and that's why we're in the position we're in."

Pittsburgh has now gone eight straight seasons without winning a playoff game.