The Steelers continued the embarrassing trend of losing to the bottom-feeders in the league, It has been a recurring theme the past three seasons and yesterday you could feel it coming. This game was a complete and total breakdown on all facets of the ball.
The Steelers started slow, revved it up and then broke down. After putting together a dominating performance last week, the Steelers offensive line struggled against Tampa Bay’s front seven. Ben was sacked five times, some of which were his fault. But Mike Johnson burned Kelvin Beachum and Cody Wallace for a sack that caused a fumble. That led to Tampa’s first score. The Tampa Bay defense had only three sacks coming into the game.
Ben Roethlisberger was the bright spot of the game he threw for over three hundred yards and moved the ball relatively at will…until the critical end of game drive. The Steelers made several key mistakes and despite having great games Antonio Brown and Heath Miller both recorded drops.
In what is becoming another damaging trend the Steelers continue to rack up the penalties. They are second in the league in penalties and racked up a whopping 13 penalties for 125 yards Sunday. The refs have been totally over officiating every game, but only one or two were questionable calls. The one negative I will say about the refs were they missed several blatant holds including one on Sean Spence that led to a Touchdown.
The Steelers continued to get little pressure up front. Jason Worilds has all but disappeared and Arthur Moats played well but had a costly penalty. James Harrison was on the field for a long time Sunday and battle double teams all day. Sean Spence played admirably but didn’t have the impact that I thought. Lawrence Timmons played his best game of the season. The secondary played okay but had lapses all day that let Tampa Bay pull this one out.
The Special Teams which had been a bright spot this season, finally reared it’s ugly head, Brad Wing shanked a 29 yard punt that basically put the Steelers against the wall. Suisham finally missed a field goal.
There was plenty of blame to go around and this one will hurt for awhile.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO
My “GAME BEER” goes to: I am giving this to Ben Roethlisberger who passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns, despite two huge drops by Heath Miller and Antonio Brown. Also Considered: Sean Spence, he didn’t play as good as he can, but the fact that he was out there shows what kind of player he is and character he has.
Where I watched the game: Back at the house, with my family for my birthday. KGB put on a ridiculous spread, including Homemade Crab Cakes, Chili, Pigs in the blanket, mini-Grill Cheeses, and her secret recipe coleslaw. The beer of choice was Yuengling again. I watched with my family, and dear friends Matt and Jen. The outcome ruined what was a perfect day.
My Stat of the week: The stat of the week is 245 Yards. That is what Mike Glennon passed for in the second half Sunday. RIDICULOUS
My thoughts on Next Week: The Steelers better come out fast and better cream the Jaguars or the season is over.