STEELERS FALL TO 0-3
49ers cough up the ball five times but Steelers could not capitalize, getting just two field goals off of them in third loss of early season
Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster runs away from the San Francisco 49ers defense during a 76yard touchdown reception in the third quarter Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The Steelers fell to the 49ers, 24-20.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Steelers only have to go back six years to find the previous time they lost their first three games of the season. But they have to go back 38 years to find the most recent time they lost a game as they did to the San Francisco 49ers, who tried to hand them a victory they apparently didn’t want.
No matter how hard the 49ers tried to ease Mason Rudolph’s first NFL start by giving the ball away like Halloween candy, the Steelers still found a way to lose in almost unfathomable fashion, 2420 Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
The Steelers defense had five takeaways, four in the opening 16 minutes, their most since they had seven takeaways in the second week of the 2010 season in a 1911 victory in Tennessee. And yet they still managed to lose because all they could produce off the 49ers’ gratuitous mistakes were two Chris Boswell field goals from an offense that didn’t have a play longer than 10 yards for nearly three quarters.
You have to go back to the Chuck Noll era to find the previous time the Steelers lost a game when they had at least five turnovers. That occurred in Week 14 of the 1981 season when they had one interception and recovered four fumbles in a 30-27 loss in Oakland.
“It’s terrible, it sucks, especially when they give us a chance at the end,” guard David DeCastro said. “We had opportunities all game. I feel sick for the defense.”
DeCastro was referring to the 49ers committing their fifth turnover when receiver Richie James fumbled a jet sweep handoff and outside linebacker T.J. Watt recovered at the Steelers 3, snuffing a potential scoring opportunity with 6:49 remaining.
But, in a repeat of what
happened a year ago in Cleveland and Denver, a late fumble by running back James Conner three plays later led to the winning touchdown — a 5-yard pass from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to
receiver Dante Pettis — with 75 seconds remaining that dropped the Steelers to 0-3.
Conner’s fumble was one of two
turnovers committed by the Steelers, both in the second half after holding a 6-3 halftime lead. The 49ers scored touchdowns after each, including the winner.
“That’s the difference in the game,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “In the first half, we were getting turnovers and we were settling for field goals. So, you know, that’s the story line of the game, if you will.”
After having just 15 takeaways the entire 2018 season, the Steelers had four in the first 16 minutes against the 49ers. In the past two games, the Steelers have had seven takeaways, including five fumbles, but managed only 16 points off the turnovers. Rookie Devin Bush has three of the recoveries, including two against the 49ers.
Garoppolo, who threw for 277 yards after being intercepted twice in the first half, threw the winning touchdown to Pettis between cornerback Steve Nelson and inside linebacker Mark Barron. It was a tough series of plays for Barron, who was called for defensive holding on a third-and-11 incompletion that allowed the 49ers keep the drive alive and not settle for the tying field goal with two minutes remaining.
“I was just covering the guy down the seam and he kind of ran into me,” Barron said. “I kind of absorbed him and my arms ended up around him. I got to get my arms off him. I got to better in that situation.”
But it was Conner who gave the 49ers their final opportunity when he fumbled at his 24 with 5:29 remaining, just three plays after Watt recovered a fumble on a botched jet sweep. Defensive end Arik Armstead forced the fumble.
“A freak thing,” Rudolph said. “I made mistakes all day. That never happens to James. He’s an unbelievable player.”
Oh, but it does happen to Conner. It was his fumble in the fourth quarter in the season opener in Cleveland last season that allowed the Browns to rally from a 21-7 deficit and force a tie. And his fumble near the end of the third quarter in Denver in Week 12 led to the winning touchdown in a 24-17 loss to the Broncos.
After rushing for more than 100 yards five times in 2018, fifth most in the league, Conner has just 99 yards rushing on 34 carries in three games. He finished with 45 yards rushing on 13 carries and had a teamhigh four catches for only 14 yards against the 49ers. But it was his fumble that proved to be the most significant play.
“I thought I was down,” Conner said.
That would describe the mood of the offense in the locker room after they managed just two Chris Boswell field goals off of the five turnovers.
“I told Cam [Heyward] that, that game is on us,” Rudolph said. “We got so many opportunities on turnovers in the first half, we got to put more points on the board for you guys.”
Rudolph finished 14-of-27 passing for 174 yards, but the offense didn’t start making plays until he connected with JuJu SmithSchuster on a crossing route for a 76-yard catchand-run touchdown to give the Steelers a 13-10 lead late in the third quarter. Until then, Smith- Schuster had only two catches and the Steelers longest play was 10 yards.
Then, on the second possession of the fourth quarter, trailing, 17-13, he hit rookie Diontae Johnson for a 39-yard touchdown behind cornerback Jason Verrett — one play after Verrett was called for pass interference on a deep pass to James Washington that resulted in a 33-yard gain.
The Steelers targeted Verrett on back-to-back plays because he had replaced starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon. But it still wasn’t enough for the Steelers.
“I felt like we got things churning there at the end of the game, but we just needed one more drive going,” Rudolph said.
“When the defense is causing turnovers for us we got to out and capitalize,” Smith-Schuster said. “We can’t settle for field goals. It’s a game-changer when you put points on the board, touchdowns.”
It was for the 49ers, not for the Steelers, no matter how hard San Francisco tried to give them the game.
“Good defenses get the hell off the field and we didn’t in the second half,” Heyward said.