PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers can’t explain it exactly. They’re not much into excuses either.

Yet there’s no denying the offense that runs so smoothly at Heinz Field looks decidedly less potent when forced to hop a plane, sleep in a hotel and dress in the visitor’s locker room. Save for a season-opening romp in Washington more than two months ago, the Steelers (4-5) have been more Pinto than Porsche on the road.

The team that expects to average 30 points a game this season has mustered just 32 combined over 12 largely comatose quarters in Philadelphia , Miami and Baltimore. While a reprieve would seem to await in Cleveland (0-10) on Sunday, Pittsburgh is taking nothing for granted. After the way it sleepwalked against the Ravens in a 21-14 loss two weeks ago, it can’t afford to. Pittsburgh didn’t cross midfield until well into the second half and didn’t score into what amounted to garbage time.

“It was miserable,” guard David DeCastro said. “I’ve never been a part of something like that like, ‘What are we gonna do?’ It’s not like we were getting manhandled where you’re ‘Alright, they’re better than us.’ It was frustrating.”

While offensive coordinator Todd Haley pointed to Ben Roethlisberger’s rustiness coming back from left knee surgery as part of the problem in Baltimore — leading to a limited playbook designed to protect the franchise quarterback — as part of the issue, it wasn’t the only one. The Steelers couldn’t run either, mustering just 36 yards on 18 carries.

Pittsburgh is converting just 31 percent of its third downs during its three-game road slide, compared to a 42 percent conversion rate at home, where the Steelers average 28.8 points.