PITTSBURGH — The answer to the biggest problem facing the Pittsburgh Steelers is easy.

“We’ve got to score points,” coach Mike Tomlin said.

More specifically, the Steelers (7-6-1) have got to score more than the 19 they managed in last weekend’s baffling victory over Tennessee that kept their playoff hopes alive, particularly with a trip to red-hot — if perhaps short-handed — Kansas City looming on Sunday.

“I don’t think it’s realistic to think (19 points are) going to be enough to get out of the stadium with a victory this time around,” Tomlin said.

Not with the way the Chiefs are scoring. And not with the way Pittsburgh has struggled to get stops on the road. The Steelers have allowed a staggering 39.3 points per game in losses to Minnesota, Cincinnati and the Los Angeles Chargers in their past three trips away from Heinz Field.

Expecting one of the NFL’s worst run defenses to suddenly get right this late in the season is unwise. And unless star linebacker T.J. Watt and company can find a way to compensate by creating four turnovers — as they did last week against the Titans — on a weekly basis, the offense is going to have to figure out a way to get in the end zone more than just once in a while.

Pittsburgh hasn’t scored a point in the first quarter in a month, and that was a Chris Boswell field goal in what quickly snowballed into a 31-point loss to the Bengals. The Steelers have failed to score a first-half touchdown in four straight games, the first time that’s happened in more than a quarter century.

While quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and offensive coordinator Matt Canada have figured a way to get it going eventually — Pittsburgh is second in the NFL in points in the fourth quarter — most of that production has come with the Steelers in full-on desperation mode against defenses focused more on keeping the clock moving than getting stops.

“We just got to find a way to get in the end zone,” Roethlisberger said Wednesday. “We can’t beat ourselves with penalties or negative plays. That’s a big key to scoring early.”

A key the Steelers have been unable to unlock until they’re trailing, sometimes by margins far too large to make up. The growing pains Roethlisberger anticipated in September while playing behind an almost completely retooled offensive line has lingered nearly to Christmas. He has been sacked 33 times already, and rookies such as center Kendrick Green have endured a learning curve that has proven remarkably steep at times.

Green has struggled with overshooting shotgun snaps to Roethlisberger, getting pushed back by nose tackles in pass protection and playing at a high level consistently. It’s been much the same for rookie left tackle Dan Moore Jr.

“(Coaches) told me there’s going to be ups and downs, people in the media are going to be talking about you crazy and probably not talking about you when you do great,” Green said.