Road Woes Highlight Pittsburgh Steelers' Inconsistency in Philosophy

Away from the friendly confines of Heinz Field, it's hard to recognize the black and gold of the Pittsburgh Steelers sometimes. Those two colors, often attributed to winning, consistency and tradition, have all but given way to a strange inconsistency that has mired the team to two consecutive, disappointing 8-8 seasons and an unfathomable 6-4 this season with a laughable schedule.

Hasn't that really been the problem for the Steelers the past three years? Losing to bad teams, and specifically, losing to bad teams on the road?

After nine games this NFL season, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin sported a 1-7 career record against teams with a .200 or less winning percentage on the road. Yuck.

However, Pittsburgh appeared to have turned a corner heading into its Week 10 matchup against the New York Jets. The Steelers were riding high, having scored 124 points in their previous three games, all wins. Ben Roethlisberger was the talk of the football world, throwing an unprecedented six touchdowns in back-to-back games. Everything was good in the Steeltown.

Pittsburgh, after years, finally seemed to have an identity. It was scoring early and scoring often.

Week 10 would be easy. The Jets were 1-8, riding a wonderfully terrible eight-game losing streak. The green team from New York was ripe for the picking against a surging Steelers team.

Then this familiar story happened.

The Jets didn't look like the Jets anymore. Michael Vick was throwing bombs circa 2003, and his lowly squad looked like the under-.200 juggernaut that seems to give the Steelers so much trouble lately.

That 67-yard bomb to T.J. Graham lifted New York to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter, stunning Pittsburgh and giving pause to fans who thought these days were behind the team.

When the clock struck zeroes, the .200 monster handed Tomlin another loss...1-8.

So, why does this keep happening to Tomlin's Steelers? In some ways, it's hard to evaluate what's being done behind the scenes as a fan or analyst. We're not in the practices, we're not in the film studies or coaching discussions. All we can do is go off what we see.

What I see is a team that's afraid of its own success.

Take the opening kickoff for instance. Pittsburgh, instead of taking the ball to start the game, deferred to the Jets. The Steelers, the team that had put up 124 points, an average of 41 points a game, in its previous three games, deferred the ball to the second half.

The Jets kicked a field goal in their opening drive, taking an early 3-0 lead and getting momentum in the process.

What makes the decision even more bizarre is the table below.

Week	Team	Deficit
1	Cleveland	-NA-
2	Baltimore	10
3	Carolina	3
4	Tampa Bay	10
5	Jacksonville	3
6	Cleveland	-NA-
7	Houston	13
8	Indianapolis	3
9	Baltimore	7
10	New York (AFC)	17

Pittsburgh's defense has allowed the first score of the game in eight of 10 games this season.

If the Steelers value momentum, they would try to get their offense on the field as soon as possible.

Pittsburgh should be a team like the Green Bay Packers. It should be a team that tries to score as many points as possible while having a decent enough defense to not let in 40 every game. The Steelers need to adjust to their new identity and, most importantly, embrace it.

For weeks, I've been noting in my Pittsburgh articles that the team should live by the motto #FreeBigBen. Under the belief that Roethlisberger is arguably the best intermediate passer in the game, the Steelers should focus their attack down field in the middle of the field.

Against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9, Roethlisberger threw five touchdowns at least 15 yards down field, an NFL record.

The Steelers' approach in Week 10 against the Jets was the antithesis of this. Dave Bryan at Steelersdepot.com created an excellent passing log for Roethlisberger against New York.

What his findings revealed is Ben's first eight passes averaged zero yards down field, and Pittsburgh didn't throw a ball more than 11 yards down field until the third quarter.

Ed Mulholland/USA TODAY Sports

There's taking what the defense gives you, and then there's dictating to a defense how they will play. The Steelers chose the former, and they paid for it.

Tomlin's record against middling team is one of great concern for the Steelers and their coaching staff. If the team doesn't embrace its playmakers, specifically the developing passing game with Big Ben, another 8-8 record isn't hard to fathom. 

All statistics courtesy of NFL.com.