The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 29-10 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas not only left the storied franchise practically out of contention for the AFC North but also with an unknown scapegoat.

According to reporter Mark Kaboly, defensive captain Cameron Heyward said: “When 10 guys do their job and one guy doesn’t, we are screwed.” Could he be talking about recently underachieving quarterback Russell Wilson? While Heyward’s line feels like a general postgame response, Kaboly mooted on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ that it could mean something deeper.

“That’s normally just player talk after a game, you know,” Kaboly said. “‘We all have to be accountable.’ But something was a little off yesterday after the game. You could tell people wanted to say something about somebody specific, but they bit their tongue.

“But they made it known that somebody, one, two, three people, who knows, are going outside of their capabilities maybe, trying to play maybe hero ball, and that’s not really working very well in their goal of winning.”

Wilson completed 23 of his 37 passes for 205 yards and an interception against the Chiefs, adding 55 yards and a score on the ground. It marked his fourth-straight game under 250 passing yards (the Steelers went 1-3 in that stretch).

“You gotta score more than 10 points against an outfit like that,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “You can look at it from a lot of angles, the bottom line is it’s junior varsity, it’s not good enough.”

Justin Fields Pittsburgh Steelers

Justin Fields could emerge as the Pittsburgh starter again in 2025 ( 

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Getty Images)

Considering he was signed to a minimum deal this offseason, Wilson has performed well: he owns a 6-3 record in nine games while completing 64.6 percent of his passes for 2,335 yards and a 15-5 touchdown-interception ratio.

He was named the team’s main man under center even after Justin Fields, also acquired this offseason, started Pittsburgh’s first six games of the season. The former Chicago Bear went 4-2 while completing 65.8 percent of his passes for 1,106 yards with a 5-1 touchdown-interception ratio.

Both quarterbacks will be free agents this offseason, giving the team a potential headache of who to go with as their 2025 starter. ESPN’s Cam Newton thinks the choice is obvious. “You bring back Justin Fields though, and you develop him the right way,” he said on ‘First Take’ this Friday. “Father Time ain’t on our side. [Wilson] ain’t no spring chicken.”

At 10-6, the Steelers haven’t been eliminated yet from the AFC North. They’ll need to defeat the surging Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18 and hope the 11-5 Baltimore Ravens lose.