Behind the Steel Curtain
The Steelers had a chance to win the AFC North on Sunday. Instead, they fell to the 3-12 Cleveland Browns in an ugly game that killed any momentum from Pittsburgh’s previous winning streak. As always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had.
After the Steelers beat the Detroit Lions in Week 16, talking about the playoffs became more of a “when” conversation than an “if.” And while nothing is guaranteed in the NFL, it’s true that Pittsburgh’s postseason chances were essentially gift-wrapped: even with a Ravens loss on Saturday, only the 3-12 Browns stood in the way to a stress-free Week 18.
Instead, the Steeler defense sleepwalked through the first quarter of Sunday’s game, and the offense sleepwalked through the rest, resulting in a six-point performance and perhaps the team’s worst loss this season in a year that’s had a few contenders.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin got plenty of criticism postgame for commenting that he didn’t necessarily believe his team played poorly, but he’s not completely wrong. Pittsburgh actually won the total yards battle. The defense, outside of the first quarter, was fantastic — at the end of the day, if you only give up 13 points, you should win comfortably in the NFL.
Was it a sloppy game? Absolutely. But somehow, we’ve seen worse this season.
More than play-to-play incompetence, Pittsburgh repeatedly failed in the moments that separate the good teams from the not-so-good ones. And that tends to be the separator in a competitive NFL.
Think of all the potential game-changing moments that could’ve flipped the final score in the Steelers’ favor: an incomplete go ball on a red zone fourth-and-one (a Scotty Miller versus Tyson Campbell one-on-one??), a puzzling run call and eventual punt on a midfield third-and-four, Nick Herbig’s dropped pick six, Kyle Dugger allowing a touchdown on what should’ve been an interception, and countless miscommunications between Aaron Rodgers and his wide receivers.
There was also some puzzling game management from Tomlin.
The Browns defense is no joke. But the Titans still scored 31 points on them three weeks ago. The Steelers had multiple opportunities to win and just couldn’t get it done.
Aaron Rodgers had a rough game on the decision-making and pocket management side of things, but ultimately the blame for the loss falls mostly on the Pittsburgh coaching staff. How did the team come out the gate looking this flat in a divisional game with a playoff spot on the line? How were they unable to outscore a struggling 3-12 rival with a rookie quarterback?
Sunday’s performance unravels most of the goodwill Pittsburgh built over its three-game winning streak entering Week 17. The team we saw collapse against the Bills in Week 13 hadn’t disappeared completely.
Given the volatile nature of the season so far, I won’t make any rash predictions regarding what happens next. Maybe Pittsburgh does enough to defeat Baltimore in Week 18! But although...
