The Pittsburgh Steelers are 2-2 through four games and still very much alive in the AFC North. Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr has apparently seen enough anyway.
Orr unloaded on Pittsburgh and Aaron Rodgers during the Heed the Call podcast’s Week 5 preview, eventually calling on Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor to deliver the kind of performance that would get the Steelers off his screen.
His message was anything but subtle.
Conor Orr Wants Colts to Put Steelers Out of Their Misery
Orr’s frustration started with the heated exchange between Rodgers and head coach Mike McCarthy during Pittsburgh’s 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Prime Video microphones caught Rodgers yelling toward the sideline while waiting for a play call, with McCarthy appearing to fire back. Orr tied that moment to McCarthy’s comments days later about Pittsburgh needing to “clean our own house.”
“I’ve been bothered by a lot of stuff, but I took the bait on this Rodgers thing too, where last week against the Browns, he literally screams and calls his head coach a mother****** and his coach calls him an a**hole. And then Rodgers is interviewed, asked about it today, and he’s like, well, I’m not going to talk about communication issues. Like, clearly, you have communication issues, and your coach came out and said your house is dirty and you need to clean your house. Something’s a mess here. Just say it’s a damn mess, you know?” Orr said.
He then went even further.
“That’s it. I’m sick of this guy. I’m sick of watching this team. I’m sick of watching the receivers drop balls. I’m sick of them having played one good game against the Bengals, so we got to take them seriously for another three weeks. Like, come on, Jonathan Taylor, put up 400 yards and put this old dying horse out of its misery and off my screen.”
Steelers Have Chance to Answer Conor Orr Against Colts
There is some context missing from Orr’s interpretation of McCarthy’s “clean our own house” comment.
McCarthy was discussing Pittsburgh’s plan to self-scout after four games before turning its full attention to Indianapolis, not announcing some deeper locker-room problem.
“We need to clean our own house,” McCarthy said. “Our house is not clean right now.”
The Steelers have still been inconsistent. They opened with a 20-13 win over the Atlanta Falcons, scored only three points in a Week 2 loss to the New England Patriots, rebounded to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 30-27 and then fell in Cleveland.
Rodgers threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns against the Browns, but he was sacked five times and Pittsburgh converted only four of 13 third downs.
Now comes the player Orr specifically called upon to finish them off.
Taylor enters Sunday with 353 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 86 carries. Pittsburgh has allowed 451 rushing yards through four games and will face Indianapolis without defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, who is on injured reserve with a foot injury.
The Steelers are hardly out of anything at 2-2. A win over Indianapolis would put them above .500 and provide an immediate response to the criticism surrounding McCarthy, Rodgers and a team still searching for consistency.
Orr, clearly, would prefer the opposite.
He wants Taylor to make sure the Steelers are no longer a team he has to take seriously.
Steelers Told Colts Should ‘Put Them Out of Their Misery’ in Week 5