Steelers Exhibit All the Worst Qualities of a Contender in Ugly Loss to Jets

For the past two weeks, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been breaking scoring and passing-yardage records. The offense, once shaky, seemed to settle into dominant form, and the defense followed suit.

This was not the team that arrived in the Meadowlands on Sunday to take on the then one-win New York Jets. 

The Steelers entered the contest at 6-3, tied with the Cleveland Browns for the top spot in the AFC North. It should have been an easy win for the Steelers, if their performance over the last two weeks was any indication of their capabilities.

Instead, the Steelers were defeated, 20-13, in a game that never felt as close as the final score became.

It started poorly and only got worse for Pittsburgh. The Jets showcased their ability to run the ball on the first possession, carving up chunks of yardage against the Steelers defense and leading to a Nick Folk field goal. 

The Steelers offense answered with a drive that ended with a sack on Roethlisberger by Jets safety Jaiquawn Jarrett. It wouldn't be the last time Jarrett would ruin a Steelers drive.

The Jets then scored a touchdown on their second possession, sending the Steelers into a 10-0 hole. This should have sparked a sense of urgency in Pittsburgh's offense.

Instead, it was the first step of what was an all-around embarrassing performance for an offense that had prided itself on speed, accuracy and creativity during its three-game winning streak.

The next three out of four Steelers possessions ended in turnovers. First, Antonio Brown fumbled a screen pass, which Jarrett recovered. The Jets' ensuing drive resulted in a touchdown pass from Michael Vick to tight end Jace Amaro, extending their lead to 17 points.

Then, Jarrett picked off Roethlisberger on the Steelers' next possession. It did not result in points for the Jets—nor did recovering Brown's fumbled punt return, which led to a missed field goal. But the turnovers did effectively contribute to ruining the Steelers' day. Pittsburgh went into halftime with just three points to its name.

Early in the second half, Jarrett picked off Roethlisberger again, after the quarterback had seemingly all day to throw the football. A terribly overthrown pass was his undoing, however, leading to the Steelers' fourth turnover on the day. Jarrett also brought pressure that led to a 4th-and-21 for the Steelers late in the game that they could not convert.

The turnovers weren't the only problem, though. While it's hard to win a football game after giving the ball away four times, what the Steelers did on offense when they weren't turning it over was also a major failure on the day.

The numbers, taken alone, don't seem that bad. Roethlisberger completed 30 of his 43 pass attempts for 343 yards and a touchdown. He had the two interceptions, but he escaped pressure well, taking only two sacks on the day.

Rookie receiver Martavis Bryant kept his touchdown streak alive, catching an 80-yard pass from Roethlisberger with just over a minute left to play. He ultimately had four catches on seven targets for 143 yards and the score.

Brown, too, had a nice day outside of his two fumbles, with nine targets, eight catches and 74 yards. Markus Wheaton joined in with four catches on seven targets for 41 yards, while running back Le'Veon Bell had eight catches for 33 yards.

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press/Associated Press

But it's where those yards came from and how little they did to help the Steelers that tell the whole story. Bryant's day was good, but most of his yards were on the late touchdown. Brown gained his yardage in small chunks that failed to move the chains, with his biggest gain being a 15-yard catch. Wheaton regressed, with a low target-to-reception rate.

The biggest culprit, however, was a complete lack of urgency from the Steelers offense. The no-huddle, which has paid major dividends in the last three weeks and the last two in particular, didn't make an appearance until the final minutes of the game. 

The play clock was constantly running down. The Steelers seemed hesitant to put their collective foot on the gas and get back to what worked—quick throws, big gains via yards after the catch and play-action passing.

Running, of course, didn't work out as well with the Steelers playing from behind. They rushed just 17 times for a mere 36 yards, which helped negate the play-action portion of the game. This was a mistake.

Play-action-dependent offenses need to feed the run game, regardless of how many yards it nets. This could have allowed the Steelers to open up their offense, because the Jets defense would have had to respect the run, even while effectively stopping it.

Team	Record	In-Division
Cleveland Browns	6-3	2-2
Cincinnati Bengals	5-3-1	2-1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6-4	2-2
Baltimore Ravens	6-4	2-3

After watching the Steelers on Sunday against the Jets, one would not believe this team was tied for first place in its (very competitive) division. The Steelers showed little of what got them to six wins and a whole lot of what led them to their three, and now four, losses.

They played down to an inferior opponent. They abandoned everything that worked on offense. Roethlisberger was inaccurate and forcing passes to his receivers. They handed the ball off to LeGarrette Blount rather than Bell in a crucial goal-line situation, and he was tackled for an eight-yard loss.

What the Steelers have failed and are failing to understand is that it doesn't matter if they manhandle teams like the Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts if they cannot do the same to a one-win team like the Jets or a then zero-win team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Head coach Mike Tomlin said, via Scott Brown of ESPN, that the Steelers "weren't sharp enough today for victory." They weren't, and that is true.

However, the Steelers, if they are true postseason contenders this year, should have been. Things are very close between the four teams in the AFC North, and everything each of them does from November on will dictate who gets a playoff berth and who sits home.

All four teams could have winning records when the season wraps, although that won't result in all four reaching the playoffs. But this sense of urgency appears to have been lost on the Steelers on Sunday. It's as though they forgot what exactly they are fighting for.

The Steelers have shown, in their previous three wins, that they have many traits of a playoff contender. They stepped up the tempo on both offense and defense, made adjustments to better showcase their strengths and managed major defeats of strong opponents.

However, they have also shown why they could be watching the postseason from their couches, and the Jets loss is the latest example of it. The Steelers need to be more focused, precise and explosive than they were against the Jets, especially because they've already proved capable of doing so.

Losing to a one-win team isn't going to help convince anyone that the Steelers are truly legitimate threats to reach the playoffs, let alone win a Super Bowl. This was a major step in the wrong direction that the Steelers could not afford to take.