Steelers' Penalties Prove Costly in Loss to Buccaneers

After a devastating loss, there is always plenty of finger-pointing. The Pittsburgh Steelers' 27-24 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday left the entire fanbase wondering what went wrong.

There were lapses all over the field. The Pittsburgh secondary continues to be a liability, which is only exacerbated without cornerback Ike Taylor. 

Gene Puskar/Associated Press

The pass rush was also a concern as Buccaneers quarterback Mike Glennon seemed to have nothing but time in the pocket in key situations late in the game. Oh, and did I mention punter Brad Wing averaged less than 30 yards per punt on four tries?

However, in the final analysis, there might be no more significant factor in Pittsburgh’s loss than the overall lack of discipline this team played with, and how it manifests itself was an absurd level of penalties.

Pittsburgh’s performance didn’t come as a total surprise. Going into the game, the Steelers were averaging 10.3 penalties per game, according to teamrankings.com. Nevertheless, Sunday’s game was a new high (low?) for the team, as they amassed 13 in the loss. A number backed up by AP writer Will Graves on Twitter. 

"

Steelers came in second in NFL, averaging 10.3 penalties a game. 13-125 today.

— Will Graves (@WillGravesAP) September 28, 2014"

Keep in mind that this is a team that, according to teamrankings.com, averaged a pedestrian 5.0 penalties per game back in 2013. Yes, I understand that the league is cracking down and so the expectation going into the season would be more flags. However, the situation with the Steelers is a bit more complicated than emphasis on the rules.

Pittsburgh is playing out of control. No better illustration than the observation made by Dale Lolley of the Observer-Reporter. 

"

#Steelers have six, count em, six 15-yard penalties today.

— Dale Lolley (@dlolleyor) September 28, 2014"

Of the Steelers’ 135 yards in penalties, 90 of them came on six personal fouls. That is reprehensible and unacceptable at this level. On one play running back Le’Veon Bell was called for taunting, which negated his excellent 16-yard run.

Later in the game, Buccaneers’ running back Doug Martin scores on a three-yard run. There was a blatant hold on the Buccaneers that was not called that likely caused the score. It was a terrible missed called, no doubt. However, defensive end Cameron Heyward has to keep his wits about himself and not get a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for his reaction to it.

USA TODAY Sports

Pittsburgh had other penalties like facemask and illegal contact stuff, which points more to discipline in technique than anything else. Poor tackling has been an issue all season, but I keep the faith that things will improve coming off Sunday's debacle.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin seemed to agree with the notion that penalties were at the heart of the matter. Dale Grdnic of behindthesteelcurtain.com shared some quotes from the Steelers’ press conference, and this one really stood out.

"

We're too highly penalized. Obviously, we're not coaching it. We're allowing it to happen. So, I take responsibility for that. We're not going to win close football games being penalized in the manner in which we've been penalized over the first month of the season. It's unacceptable. It's inexcusable. In a nutshell, that's the story of the outcome of the performance.

"

This was a sentiment shared by guard David DeCastro. TribLive Radio host Ken Laird put this little nugget out on his Twitter account: 

"

DeCastro on the team's 13 penalties for 125-yds: "Those are unbelievable. We have to stop them soon. Not going to win many games like that"

— Ken Laird (@Ken_Laird) September 28, 2014"

DeCastro is right. This team isn’t going to win many games with double-digit penalties every week. And while I share Tomlin’s sentiment that this sort of lack of composure and discipline falls on him, there is plenty of blame to go around.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

These are highly skilled, highly paid professionals. They need to accept some level of responsibility for how poorly they played. All the credit in the world to the Buccaneers, who came into a hostile environment and never backed down.

It never should have come down to the final moments, if not for all these brutal penalties. If this doesn’t change, the playoffs are going to be just a dream at the end of the season for a third straight year.

Unless specified, all stats provided courtesy of NFL.com.