For a brief period at the end of the first quarter and the start of the second quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the Steelers took a 13-0 lead — cruelly teasing fans into believing their pre-game rhetoric about being prepared for the stretch run and a potential playoff berth. But after the Indianapolis Colts roared back in the second quarter to take a 14-13 halftime lead, a palpable sense of imminent disaster was hanging over the Steelers Nation faithful. This feeling of dread ultimately proved justified as the Steelers failed to score again while surrendering 16 second-half points to the Colts.

During a fourth quarter in which the Steelers have sometimes rallied this season, not only was there no rally, but the Colts consistently drove the football down the Steelers’ throats on the ground, consuming large chunks of time which Pittsburgh desperately needed to attempt a comeback. But by that point, the Steelers offense had been so ineffective that few considered a late rally possible, let alone likely.

Without recounting all of the ugly statistics which are equally forgettable to those from their previous, home defeats at the hands of the Cardinals and Patriots, it will suffice to classify the current brand of Steelers football as among the worst since Art Rooney, Sr. founded the Steelers franchise in 1933. At his post-game presser, Mike Tomlin didn’t mince words or try to excuse what was obvious to everyone. Tomlin accepted full responsibility for the debacle while promising that significant changes would be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead.

Had there been even a modest ray of hope in his team’s performance, the ever-optimistic Tomlin likely would have acknowledged it. But in the wake of this defeat, the only thing Tomlin could do was to reiterate the obvious fact that his entire team had fallen short in every conceivable way. Making matters worse, the injury toll from this game eviscerated the middle of the Steelers defense which, by the final quarter, was being manhandled by the Colts’ OL.

While NFL head coaches scarcely have the luxury of throwing in the towel regardless of how poorly a season unfolds, the possibility of Kenny Pickett’s return before the end of the season now seems irrelevant for a team clearly going nowhere. The problems which the Steelers currently face are deep and abiding. The impotence of Pittsburgh’s offense, which predates Pickett’s injury, recently has begun to collapse the health and capabilities of a defense which previously had been the team’s main saving grace.

As things currently stand, the Pittsburgh Steelers are nothing other than a very bad football team. As recent defeats have proven, this Steelers team has considerable trouble matching up with any team in the league, whether or not their opponents still have the services of their starting QBs. And despite Tomlin’s pledge of significant changes on the way, it’s difficult to imagine how any moves the team might make within the next three weeks — no matter how drastic — might alter the Black-and-gold’s downward trajectory. It’s equally difficult to imagine how much longer the Steelers’ front office will continue to watch this current team taint the proud tradition of Steelers football without taking some very significant actions of their own.

The sad fact is that not a single one of the expectations the Steelers raised in drafting players like Pickett, Najee Harris, George Pickens and other talented youngsters has yet come close to fruition. Besides T.J. Watt, the team currently has no players ranked among the NFL’s elite in any statistical category. While this isn’t necessarily a wholesale indictment of Pittsburgh’s drafts in recent years, it clearly indicates the team lacks the organizational structure necessary to optimize usage of this talent.

Thus, the Steelers presently find themselves in precisely the position which no professional sports team ever wants to reach. Their overall strategic plan for transitioning from the Roethlisberger Era now looks to be entirely off track. At the same time, dissatisfaction among key Steelers players has reached dimensions the franchise hasn’t seen since before many of today’s fans were born. Today, the Black-and-gold find themselves poised squarely at the crossroads separating the return route to respectability from the route to no-man’s land.

As Tomlin hinted during his press conference, his team currently faces circumstances as close to the crisis level as any NFL organization can reach. Perhaps most importantly, the Steelers’ persistent doldrums threaten the health and cultivation of pro football’s most loyal and rabid fanbase. The sloppy, disjointed and uninspired football which Steelers Nation has been watching this season runs contrary to everything this franchise has stood for during the past 50 years.

As Steelers fans, we can only hope that reaching this dreadful point will precipitate prompt and significant measures tailored to right the Steelers’ sinking ship. At this point as Tomlin admitted, no reasonable moves should be deemed off of the table. And the Steelers head coach surely recognizes his own future will be determined by how effectively he meets what looks like the most difficult challenge of his career. One thing fans absolutely know about the Rooney family is that they still remember what it was like before Chuck Noll first put Pittsburgh on the NFL map. Given their long history in the league, It’s a safe bet the Steelers ownership has no intention of reliving those dark days.