KANSAS CITY -- Cam Heyward sat in front of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ media backdrop in the bowels of Arrowhead Stadium after his team’s 36-10 drubbing by the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, his frustration palpable.

“I don’t think there were really a lot of instances where we played good,” the veteran defensive captain said, ticking off his team’s shortcomings. “Not getting off blocks. Didn’t use our hands well. Lapses. Offsides. You play a good team and you can’t spot them anything. I think a couple of lapses in the coverage, but up front, man, we’re not getting the job done.”

With two games left, the Steelers aren’t out of the playoff race. Their chances of earning a berth dropped to 12% (according to ESPN's Football Power Index) with Sunday’s loss, but Heyward refused to accept the idea that with two regular-season games left, the Steelers simply have to live with a defense that gave up 23 points in the first half of Sunday’s loss.

“I ain’t accepting s---,” Heyward said. “We’ve got a lot of football left to play, and I think a lot will be said in these last two games. I know it wasn’t perfect today. It breaks my heart to let our fans down, let our team down, to go out like that. But man, I’m not ready to throw in no damn towel. We’ve got a lot of football left. Two games to see where we can fall.”

Sunday’s loss followed a familiar script -- the Steelers (7-7-1) went in a big hole early, but this time, they couldn’t dig out. The Steelers have been outscored 97-9 in the first half of their last five games, and they were held without a first-half touchdown for a fifth consecutive game -- the first time that’s happened since 1940.

The 23-point hole Sunday also marked the third time in the Steelers’ last five games they’ve trailed by at least 23 points.

“I think expecting something different and not doing anything different, that’s shame on us,” Heyward said. “We’ve got to play a lot better. I think we go into a game with a good game plan, but if we don’t execute at a high level, you get a shellacking like we did today. As a defense, I expect our guys to play better. If we can’t do it, then we’ve got the wrong guys in.”

The Steelers' other two recent large deficits resulted in losses to the Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings, and all three were on the road.

“We haven't done much on the road,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “We're taking too long to warm up to the environment. It's been an issue. Obviously won't be an issue coming up this week, we'll be at Heinz Field. I acknowledge it's been an issue for us.”

Running back Najee Harris, though, didn’t blame the slow start on the hostile crowd.

“I’ll say it’s just execution,” Harris said. “It’s kind of dumb to blame it on everything else other than us when we’re in Week [16], later in the season. It’s about time we point at ourselves instead of other X-factors. It’s something we’ve got to get together as a team. I don’t think it has to do with anything else but us, personally, individually. We’ve just got to find a way to execute, personally and as a team.

“... You should get acclimated to whatever. Away, home. It doesn’t matter. We’ve got to get it together.”

Losses by the Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers this weekend keep the Steelers’ playoff hopes from completely tanking. They’re in 11th place in a tight AFC after the loss, but to have any hope of playing past Week 18, the Steelers have to first beat the Browns next week on Monday Night Football at Heinz Field (8:15 ET, ESPN) in what figures to be Ben Roethlisberger’s final game at home as a Steeler. The Steelers are 5-2-1 in home games this season, their two losses coming in Weeks 2 and 3.

“It doesn't happen if we don't get one,” Roethlisberger said of making the playoffs. “We've got to go get one win, coming home, big game Monday night. Two divisional opponents. Let's focus on this one. That's going to be my message, I'm sure Cam is saying the same thing. Let's focus on one game, one opponent. Trying to get one victory, see what happens after that.”