Pittsburgh Steelers Unable To Walk the Walk in December

Two weeks after Steelers' Head Coach Mike Tomlin tried to intimidate teams and rally his own by declaring his side would “unleash hell in December,” the Steelers are yet to back up their coach’s words and walk the walk.

The Steelers are now on a five-game losing streak after Thursday night's loss to Cleveland—snapping a streak of 12 straight Pittsburgh victories over the Browns.

It looks as if percentages caught up with the Steelers, although the week before the Steelers also lost at home to the worst football team in the past seven years—the Oakland Raiders and their backup quarterback.

What created such a negative turn around towards the end of the season?

There is no doubt that the 2009 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers have hit rock bottom for the first time in a long time. Last night against the Browns was a perfect example of why the Steelers have lost their last two games in December.  

The Steelers are known for their intimidating and fast defense that creates turnovers. However, their corners are yet to pick off a pass this season, and during their two games in December, the Steelers have yet to cause a turnover and are not intimidating anybody.

The Steelers were unable to cause a turnover against the two worst offenses in the NFL, and before last night’s game the Steelers gave up an astonishing 45 percent of their points in the fourth quarter.  

Are you kidding me?

Defensive Coordinator Dick LeBeau couldn’t get enough fire under his team to create a turnover against the fumble-happy Raiders or in the freezing cold against Brady Quinn, who has more turnovers than games started this year (five interceptions, four fumbles in eight starts). 

There could be only one reason why the Steelers are struggling to find their niche on defense of late and that’s because strong safety Troy Polamalu is out.

I knew Polamalu was a great asset to the Steeler D, but I didn’t realize the impact Polamalu had on what I thought was a good overall defense.

Losing defensive end Aaron Smith to injury at the beginning of the season as well as Polamalu in Week 10 hurt the Steelers, but the defense isn’t the only reason why they’re currently on a five-game skid.

When I watch the Steelers they are always at their best when their defense is creating turnovers and when they beat teams in the trenches.

Having success in the trenches comes from a fighting will to out-play your opponent by physically beating them up. And the way the Browns outplayed the Steelers on both the offensive line and defensive line, the Steelers have no fighting chance.

Last night, the Browns, who won their second game of the season, out-gained and out-played the Steelers up front.

Statistically the 30th worst offensive line in the NFL has given up the league’s third highest total of sacks, 38.

Cleveland (2-11) made it a habit of frustrating Roethlisberger all game, who was sacked eight times and completed just 56 percent of his passes (18-of 32).

By contrast, Quinn was sacked only once.

But the most surprising stat of all coming from last night's game was the fact that the Steelers were out-gained on the ground 175-71.

That rushing stat comes as a surprise because Cleveland is 29th in the league against the rush, allowing 148 yards per game, and 21st in the league running the ball behind the league’s worst passing offense.

How can you allow a team that is last in the league passing run all over you for 175 yards?

The Browns beat the Steelers at their own game. Most were fooled to believe that the Steelers were going to run the ball and get back to their ground-and-pound ways of playing football.

Instead, the Steeler offense looked too cutesy last night, spreading the offense out throwing the ball 32 times and running it 16 times with Rahard Mendenhall.

Where is the Steeler team that lived and died by the run?

To start the game, the Steelers ran the ball four times on their first six plays on offense but then got away from it after going three-and-out on their first two possessions.  

I guarantee you if the Steelers ran the ball as much as they threw it last night they would have won the game. And why wouldn’t you want to run the ball more when the Steelers have three-solid backs that can all make plays.

The Steelers in their last five games haven’t been on the same page. Their offense will show up and then their defense gives up 21 points in the fourth quarter or their defense will show up and their offense can’t score a touchdown.

One side of the ball that hasn’t shown up at all is the Steelers woeful special teams. When everything goes wrong, special teams can turn it around with field position and points. But when everything goes wrong along with special teams you go on a five-game losing streak.

One upside to the recent downfall of the Steelers is the realization that the Steelers depth is not where it needs to be. Over the years the Steelers have remained healthy enough to keep their core starters (Roethlisberger, Harrison, Polamalu) in tact.

Now that Roethlisberger and Polamalu have been banged up, the Steelers show their vulnerability with their lack of depth.

Adding their name to teams that won the Super Bowl and missed the playoffs the following year, the Steelers can now concentrate on their youth and depth to better prepare themselves for the upcoming season.