The Pittsburgh Steelers knew they would be tested when they entered a three-game stretch that would see them play the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, and Kansas City Chiefs in a span of 11 days. A stretch that would provide them the chance to prove that they were among the NFL's elite, and a team to be feared in January.

Instead of living up to the challenge, the Steelers stumbled and lost three straight games, ending a tiresome stretch with an underwhelming 29-10 loss to the Chiefs on Wednesday. They once held a clear lead over the Ravens to win the AFC North, but are now looking like they will tumble into the postseason as a wildcard team with limited hopes of doing better than one-and-done.

This three-game losing skid right before the playoffs begin led to linebacker Alex Highsmith calling out the team's will to win.

“There’s got to be a want-to," Highsmith said. "There’s not enough of that right now. There’s got to be a want to. It’s that time of the year where we’ve got two guaranteed games left. We’re gonna find out who wants it, you know what I mean? Everybody in this room gotta want it. That’s the only way we’re gonna move on and get better."

Highsmith was not the only Steeler to press on the team's play at this point in the season. Safety DeShon Elliott spoke with heavy criticism of the issues the team experienced in the loss to Kansas City.

"They made adjustments when they should have. We did not... guys can't be f---ing wide open. That's the first thing. Do your job," Elliott said via Nick Farabaugh of PennLive. "It's Week 18. We shouldn't be having these problems in Week 18. That's a Week 1 or Week 2 problem."

Patrick Queen added: “Not explanation. We came out flat. Can’t explain it, it’s happening. We talking about it and nobody is doing anything about it. I don’t know.”

It would have been one thing if the Steelers fell to the Eagles, Ravens, and Chiefs in narrow losses, but the Steelers have been outplayed significantly in each contest. The Steelers lost each of these games by at least two scores, and failed to score 20 points in any of their last three games.

The lack of adjustments have shown up in the second halves of these games, when they have been outscored 43-10. They have not scored points in the fourth quarter in their last four games, which is not a recipe to win in the postseason.

This latest loss to the Chiefs has clearly fired the alarms for the Steelers, but with the postseason just two weeks away, will Pittsburgh have enough time to turn things around?

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Steelers' Alex Highsmith Calls Out Team's Desire to Win Amid 3-Game Skid.

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