Steelers feel low after home loss
Years ago, Chuck Noll said of Steelers running back Sidney Thornton, “His problems are great, and they are many.” Are you thinking what I am? Mike Tomlin could say the same thing about his entire Steelers team.
A disappointing start to the season hit a new low Sunday night with a 26-14 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens. This isn’t the first time this has been written or said in the past few weeks, but I’m still struggling to wrap my arms around it: The Steelers are tied for last place in the AFC North with the Cleveland Browns with a 1-2-1 record.
“We’ve got some making up to do,” Ramon Foster said. I didn’t see this loss coming. None of the Steelers did. “We’re all down right now, to be honest with you,”
Maurkice Pouncey said. “We had high hopes for this game. It didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.
“This group has been together a long time. When you have true competitors, people are going to be upset. People should be down right now. We just lost a divisional game. People shouldn’t be excited and want to get out and see their families. That’s when you have a problem.”
The Steelers are 0-2 at home.
“Our fans deserve so much more,” Foster said. “We deserve more. We’ve got all our family and kids and friends here. You don’t want to be a team that loses at home. It’s awesome to win on the road because you get to disrupt somebody else, but it’s not a good feeling when you lose at home.”
All the measurables indicated the Steelers would win. They were 25-7 in their previous 32 prime-time games at Heinz Field, including seven home wins in a row on Sunday night. Ben Roethlisberger especially shined. He was 21-3 in prime-time games at home with nine consecutive wins.
On top of all that, Roethlisberger had torched the Ravens at Heinz Field. In his past three starts against them here, he completed 93 of 136 passes for 1,285 and 11 touchdowns with just two interceptions.
So much for the measurables.
“I just didn’t make enough plays tonight, point blank,” Roethlisberger said. “I’ll take ownership of that. It’s squarely on me. I apologize to the fans, my teammates. I wasn’t good enough.”
Roethlisberger and the offense did well in the first half to dig out of an early 14-0 hole to pull the team into a 14-14 tie at halftime. They were especially effective on the final drive of the half when Roethlisberger completed four of five passes for 76 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown to Antonio Brown.
But Roethlisberger and the offense did nothing in the second half. They failed to score on any of their six possessions. They didn’t even make it past midfield. Their final drive when the game still was in some doubt ended with a bad interception by Roethlisberger. It was the first time in 14 games that the Steelers didn’t score at least 20 points.
It’s hard to believe this was the same offense that came into the game with the NFL’s second-best offense. It had averaged 453.3 yards in the first three games.
A lack of a running game is one of the problems Tomlin can mention. The Steelers had 11 rushes for 19 yards. Is it fair to think the team is missing Le’Veon Bell? James Conner had just 19 yards on nine rushes.
Failure on third downs is another issue. The Steelers converted just two of 12 chances. That’s awful.
The Steelers defense played better — at least by its horrible standard — but not nearly well enough. It needed to make a stand when the Ravens took over at their 8 with 10:17 left, leading, 20-14. But it failed miserably. The Ravens went 82 yards on 14 plays during a 6:40 drive that ended with Justin Tucker’s clinching 28yard field goal.
What a satisfying win it was for the Ravens. They missed the playoffs in the past three seasons and four of the past five in large part because they lost close games to the Steelers. The Steelers had won three in a row in the series.
But on this gorgeous autumn night, the Ravens were better-prepared and more ready to play. They needed fewer than 7 minutes to take that 14-0 lead. They are too good of an opponent to spot that kind of lead.
The rotten starts at home might be the biggest problem for Tomlin to solve. The Kansas City Chiefs led, 21-0, in the previous game at Heinz Field. Go back to the playoffs last season. Jacksonville led, 21-0. That is no way to win football games.
It’s no coincidence the Steelers, suddenly, aren’t winning.