Crisan: Accountability is one thing, but actions are louder for these Steelers

I can admire Cam Heyward for stepping to the press conference table moments after Thursday's crushing 21-18 defeat to the Patriots Thursday at Acrisure Stadium and holding court for eight and a half minutes on the situation these Steelers are in. 

Of the 13 questions the Steelers' captain addressed on that dais, nine of them involved things other than what transpired on that field from the moment the ball was kicked off at 8:16 p.m. EST. On multiple fronts, Heyward spoke of being accountable for the losses, for the poor performances, and for the events that have led to a souring taste in many mouths and have raised the focus on Mike Tomlin and his remaining time as the Steelers' head coach.

There is only so much these parties can do by this point. There is a standard to be met by all parties. But, don't confuse poor coaching with poor play. They might go hand-in-hand, but they also remain separate from each other to an extent. The bottom line here is this: These players need to find a way to play better. 

Accountability is one thing. Action is another.

"I think you keep guys together by being accountable, not running from the mistakes," Heyward said. "You know, we'll have meetings (Friday), but I'm not someone who is going to shy away from what's going on. I know a lot of our guys are going to think the same way. When we're out there or in meetings there is a standard, a level of play that needs to be accustomed to everybody, and when we fall short, everybody is accountable for it. Nothing more than that."

Everybody. From the top down.

That's the way it has to be.

Before I go any farther, it's important to note the limitations this roster currently has. For as much as Kenny Pickett's growth has regressed or flattened this season, he sprained his ankle Sunday and the Steelers pivoted to Mitch Trubisky to run the remnants of Matt Canada's playbook as tailored by Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan. The Steelers forged onward Sunday without Alex Highsmith for the majority of the game, with T.J. Watt having played at far-less-than 100 percent, and with Minkah Fitzpatrick wearing a miniature boxing glove on his left hand as a result of breaking it Sunday. The defense is rolling out a less-than-100-percent Elandon Roberts, a practice squad guy (Mykal Walker), an alleged Pokemon card scammer (Blake Martinez), and a fledgling project (Mark Robinson) at inside linebacker.

Those snowballed effects are damning to certain degrees, but it's the reality of the situation they are in.

But, that team nor those who have vested interests in it don't want to hear about any of that. From the team's perspective, the "next man up" cliche applies, but those next men up committed a comedy of mistakes over these last two games that shouldn't be happening within the final six games of the season.

So have those men who have been up since Week 1, though, which calls into question this team's lack of effort, focus, and preparation heading into these previous two games.

Fitzpatrick was strong in his opinion over the situation in an interview with the NFL Network after Thursday's game:

"In order to see fruit, you've got to toil for it," Fitzpatrick said. "I think too many people don't want to toil for it. They just want to walk out here and think that they're going to make plays and they're going to perform at a high level. I think when you have more people that want to work for it and not expect it to be handed to them, because it's the NFL, nothing's handed to you, you've got to earn everything. I think that dudes just think that because they're wearing the black and gold that they're going to win games, and I think we need to check that mentality and make people realize that they've got to earn that mentality and they've got to earn every single blade of grass and every splash play and every single rep that they get out there. They've got to earn it."

Wow.

That's powerful enough in moment, but it's also powerful to the trajectory and unfamiliar territory this franchise is on.

Line up Fitzpatrick's comments with Jaylen Warren saying they took the Cardinals lightly on Sunday, which was reiterated by Diontae Johnson on Tuesday. 

(Yes, from the same Johnson who danced his way into viral status after scoring his touchdown to cut the Cardinals' lead to 24-10 with 4:25 to play Sunday.)

Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice ... ?

Here's what Heyward said about the approach and mentality the Steelers took over these previous two games:

"I think it's execution," he said. "There are plays to be made. When we don't make the plays everybody has to own up to it. You can call that whatever you want, but to me, when you don't make the play you don't make the play. That's not overlooking somebody. The NFL, I mean, you can play an 0-15 team and that team can dust you if you're not careful. Everybody has professionals and everybody prepares, but I think the execution, and especially in this game, the execution has to go up. Coming off a short week, so many different things going on, we lost our quarterback for a couple of weeks. Defense, offense, you can pick up the level of execution. Can't have those mistakes going forward."

Execution. I'm not buying that as the worst of his team's problems.

What about the Saturday-like pre-snap penalties? The decision to throw it deep on third- and fourth-and-2 with the game on the line? The lack of targets and the inappropriate usage of George Pickens?

I could keep going.

The Steelers couldn't have those mistakes Sunday or Thursday under any circumstances. The smaller-picture implication of falling out of a playoff position in one thing, but all of the larger-picture issues that have been emphasized since Thursday's performance are more damning than anything.

"I just try to stay in the moment of it," Heyward said, when I asked how he could compartmentalize everything that happened in those losses. "You know, when you lose people try to do the same thing, and so either we either learn from our mistakes or they're going to continue to bite us in the butt."

And now it's all about what's next. Accountability has to turn into action. Veteran leaders like Heyward, Fitzpatrick, and Patrick Peterson are the voices of reason here. 

On Friday, Peterson shared that perspective and how it affects the short term.

"It starts with, first and foremost, with looking at yourself in the mirror," Peterson said. "Understand and see what you can do more or better to help the team outcome of W's. That's the great thing you have to love about this team sport and football is that it's a team effort, but you also get, week-after week -- we've got four weeks left -- but you get week after week to have an opportunity to prove yourself and kind of right the wrongs in a sense. The road is very narrow at this point in the season, so we have to find a way to get it in gear very quickly because if you want to be where 14 other teams possibly could be, we have to get on the same page."

But those effects have to be taken into the long term, as well. 

There is one word I gave for these Steelers on Monday in our "South Side Beat" podcast: Untrustworthy.

I cannot trust these Steelers -- even with those veteran voices -- to right this ship before it's too late.

With the personnel that is currently in place, that goes for the short term and the long term.