Mark Madden: Steelers have lots of issues, and they can't all be fixed in 1 offseason

The Steelers’ season-ending 42-21 wild-card loss at Kansas City offered no surprises. The Steelers told you, once again, who they really are.

Now you’ve got no choice but to believe them.

Plenty of criticism is rightly being heaped on the offense, which indulged its habit of not scoring a first-half touchdown. (The Steelers’ offense had one first-half TD in its last eight games.) The Chiefs traded points for time in the second half. The 21-point margin of defeat flattered to deceive and didn’t flatter that much.

But the defense is supposed to be decent. It isn’t, as evidenced by giving up touchdowns on six straight possessions.

T.J. Watt had a scoop-and-score to give the Steelers false hope in the second quarter, but the Steelers thereafter died like dogs on that side of the ball.

Watt had a great game: Besides his touchdown, he had a sack, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits. He also deflected a pass that was intercepted.

Yet the Steelers still lost by 21. On a bad team, an elite edge rusher only helps so much.

But the Steelers aren’t a “bad” team. They finished over .500 and made the playoffs thanks to a fantastic series of events on the regular season’s final day.

But the Steelers aren’t good, either. They lost twice in Kansas City by a cumulative 78-31. If the teams played 10 times, the Chiefs would win all 10. The gap is huge.

It’s fashionable to blame coaching, and that’s what’s happening. Putting offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s head on a pike seems the preferred option.

But that’s scapegoating. Bill Belichick wouldn’t make that roster do better.

But Belichick also got routed in the wild-card round. It’s about talent, and the Steelers don’t have enough. You can’t shine excrement. Coach Mike Tomlin deserves praise for making that motley assemblage do as well as it did. But he merits scorn for helping put it together.

The biggest sin was putting perhaps the NFL’s worst offensive line in front of a 39-year-old quarterback who can’t move. That put the ceiling at low height from Day 1.

The Steelers need better players a lot more than they need better coaching.

The Steelers went 9-7-1 because they defeated bad teams and occasionally beat a good team having a bad game. (Like Buffalo in Week 1.) The Steelers never beat a good team having a good game. (Both Kansas City defeats provide proof.)

The danger of being a “playoff team” is that, moving forward, management believes the team is close to bigger and better, making moves accordingly.

The Steelers aren’t close to bigger and better.

But if the Steelers sign JuJu Smith-Schuster to a four-year extension as per his post-game suggestion, great things are possible. Smith-Schuster showed Rambo-like courage in coming back from shoulder surgery to provide a whopping 26 yards worth of catches. Reward that.

Smith-Schuster would be crazy to go elsewhere. He’s got Pittsburgh totally fooled.

Ben Roethlisberger went out with a whimper, not a bang. Sunday’s loss wasn’t on the level of the 62-7 playoff defeat Dan Marino suffered in his final game, but it wasn’t far off.

But Roethlisberger won’t be remembered for his exit. His accomplishments and attributes are too numerous to list here. Suffice it to say he was a real Steeler. There aren’t many left.

Where do the Steelers go from here?

Down, probably.

Roethlisberger was far removed from his prime, but he provided glue.

Cam Heyward, another true Steeler, is 32.

The team has little to hang its hat on beyond a few outstanding defensive players. (Those players were not outstanding enough to keep Kansas City from scoring 42 points.)

There’s so much to fix. It can’t all be done in one offseason.

The Steelers must look for their next franchise quarterback, too. It’s assumed that the next quarterback they draft will be it.

Mark Malone wasn’t. Bubby Brister wasn’t. Neil O’Donnell wasn’t. Kordell Stewart wasn’t.

The Steelers drafted 12 quarterbacks in the attempt to replace Terry Bradshaw before Roethlisberger arrived in 2004 to finally provide similar caliber.

The Steelers’ problems are great, and they are many. This season was a last gasp.