PITTSBURGH — The Atlanta Falcons kept stressing there was no need to panic during their sluggish start. That the small mistakes that kept costing them games would get cleaned up. That their banged-up roster would get healthy. That the team that began the season with Super Bowl expectations would eventually show up.

Time is running out. Quickly. It may already have.

Sloppy early and overwhelmed late, the Falcons were run over by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second half of a 41-17 loss on Sunday that dropped Atlanta to 1-4 and left coach Dan Quinn scrambling for answers.

Playing in a city where they’d never won, the Falcons appeared to have a chance after they walked into the half down just 13-10 following safety Damontae Kazee’s leaping end zone interception of Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger in the waning moments of the second quarter.

Then it all fell apart. The league’s 28th-ranked defense couldn’t stop the Steelers on the ground or in the air. The offensive line couldn’t protect Matt Ryan, who himself couldn’t find a way to get the ball to star wide receiver Julio Jones when it mattered.

Shadowed by Pittsburgh cornerback Joe Haden all afternoon, Jones finished with five receptions for a season-low 62 yards, all of them coming in the fourth quarter with the Falcons down double digits.

“They had a good game plan for me,” Jones said. “Lot of (double coverage), things like that. Discouraged Matt early on in the game that two guys were going to be on me throughout the whole game.”

Jones came in leading the league in yards receiving but was targeted just four times while the game was competitive. Though Ryan found intermittent success elsewhere while completing 26 of 38 passes for 285 yards and a touchdown, the inability to get anything going with Jones helped Atlanta fall to 0-7-1 all-time in Pittsburgh.

“Obviously we want to get (Jones) involved,” Ryan said. “They made a pretty concerted effort take him out and that created opportunities elsewhere.”

Just not nearly enough, particularly in the second half. Atlanta managed just 130 yards over the final two quarters. Running back Devonta Freeman ran eight times for 32 yards in his return after missing three games with an injury, and Ryan was sacked six times in all. His final snap encapsulated his team’s nightmarish day.

Ryan scrambled to his left to avoid Pittsburgh linebacker T.J. Watt only to have Watt slap the ball free. Pittsburgh’s LJ Fort fell on it in the end zone with 3:35 remaining to produce the final margin.