Struggling Steelers in for a long year?
PITTSBURGH — Two weeks of momentum vanished in 19 seconds. More than three hours later, the competitive portion of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season likely followed suit.
Stung on the first play from scrimmage and stumbling on the last, Pittsburgh’s 21-18 loss to the Oakland Raiders thwarted any progress the Steelers (2-5) made during a brief two-game winning streak that suggested perhaps there was a chance they could somehow dig out of an 0-4 start.
Turns out, probably not. The same mistakes that dogged Pittsburgh during a winless September re-emerged in the Black Hole.
The defense surrendered a record-setting run by Oakland quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The offense limped to a miserable start, only reviving itself when things nearly got out of hand. The running game was abysmal and the special teams even worse.
Bad clock management. Questionable decision making. A game plan that dared not stretch the field. Even if the Steelers had somehow found a way to escape with a win, coach Mike Tomlin isn’t sure he would evaluate things any differently.
“Had we pulled the game out, I still would have been disappointed in the quality of play in the first half,” he said.
“I liked the effort, but it’s not effort oriented,” Tomlin said. “It’s result-oriented.”
And the results are repeating a well-established pattern, one Pittsburgh has been unable to shake for nearly a year.
The Steelers are 4-10 since quarterback Ben Roethlisberger left a 16-13 win over the Kansas City Chiefs with a dislocated rib last November. Nearing the season’s midway point, the only team Pittsburgh is ahead of in the AFC standings are the winless and apparently hopeless Jacksonville Jaguars.
Something that’s happening with regularity when forced to change their routine. Pittsburgh has lost eight straight games when playing outside the Eastern Time Zone. Nearly every loss has looked like Sunday’s debacle in Oakland. The Steelers have a tendency to fall behind early.
