The Pittsburgh Steelers had a golden opportunity in Week 13 to move to a mere 1.0 game back of the Baltimore Ravens for the top spot in the AFC North standings. Instead, they dropped to 2.0 games back of the Ravens following their 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

The Steelers did not have much to go their way against Arizona. Pittsburgh reached the end zone on just one out of its three total trips to the red zone, and its front seven watched as the James Conner-led Cardinals rush offense tallied 150 rushing yards.

Alex Highsmith was a bright spot for the Steelers on Sunday, as he recorded eight total tackles and 1.5 sacks.

After the game, Highsmith shied away from shifting the blame to a single player or play for Pittsburgh’s fifth loss of its season. Instead, Highsmith laid out a few reasons for why the Steelers dropped the ball against Arizona.

"It was just beating ourselves," Highsmith said. "Way too many penalties, lack of execution, it was bad to say the least."

Multiple other Steelers players also took some time after the game to touch on just where it went wrong on the day. For Steelers quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, Pittsburgh’s woes in the red zone are one reason why Arizona was able to pull off the upset win. 

"Just sloppiness, lack of execution when we got down in the red zone," Trubisky said after the game.

Overall, the Steelers have scored 11 red zone touchdowns, which ranks just behind the New York Jets (seven) for the second-fewest this season.

Trubisky is expected to anchor Pittsburgh's offense against the New England Patriots on Thursday. Kenny Pickett suffered an ankle injury against the Cardinals, and he is reportedly set to miss "a couple of weeks."

Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger weighs in on just where Kenny Pickett must improve

Strong take.