With the offense regressing and the defensive injuries catching up, the Steelers dropped their second game in a row to the Buffalo Bills, marking the first losing streak of the season.
The offense is now struggling significantly. Teams are figuring out how to defend the dink and dunk passing game when the Steelers receivers aren’t dropping easy catches. Diontae Johnson had a tough first half and his case of dropsies continued. He is a tremendous playmaker and he rebounded in the second half, he made significant mistakes and found himself on the bench. Eric Ebron looks like an unstoppable threat and then makes a key drop in an important spot. The receivers need to regain some consistency. There was no spark on offense and the Steelers punted EIGHT times.
Ben Roethlisberger had his worst performance of the season against a mediocre Bills’ defense. Roethlisberger only mustered 187 yards and had two back breaking interceptions, the first was a pick six by Taron Johnson when the Steelers were driving and leading in the first half, the last was an underthrown ball to James Washington that Levi Wallace picked off to end any chance of a comeback. The personnel around him didn’t help the situation and the complete disappearance of any sort of running game is now a glaring weakness.
Playing behind a banged up offensive line, James Conner’s return had no impact. Conner finished with 10 carries for just under 20 yards and almost had a costly fumble. Jaylen Samuels and Benny Snell combined for 29 yards between them and were never a factor. Starting guard Matt Feiler was lost for the game early, his backup Kevin Dotson also left the game with injury forcing J.C. Hassenauer into action at guard. The line finally surrendered a sack after keeping Ben upright for five games. They are getting no push at all and are struggling.
The Steelers defense hung tough and were dominating the first half, but eventually wore down. Josh Allen, was running for his life all game, but found a rhythm with Stefon Diggs exploiting the Steelers soft zone coverage. Alex Highsmith continues to be a work in progress with the Steelers desperately missing Bud Dupree. T.J. Watt could never get going and was a step behind most of the night. Cam Heyward played a physical game and anchored the front.
Avery Williamson and Marcus Allen held their own in their first respective first starts. Williamson did well as the signal caller and led the team in tackles. He also is a solid tackler and looks like a nice addition. Allen who is playing out of position, did a nice job for most of the game and brings a coverage aspect that is unique. No Joe Haden was also a factor in Diggs big performance, but Mike Hilton and Cam Sutton played well as their roles expanded on defense. Hilton chipped in with a pick and some solid tackling.
While it was far from a great performance the defense deserved a better outcome.
The special teams slide back to being a huge liability is almost complete. The kick coverage teams are terrible and undisciplined. Any magic Ray-Ray McCloud had, is now gone and his questionable decision making started the Steelers off deep on their side of the field. Jordan Berry punted a whopping eight times and had mixed results. He never was able to get the full flip of the field and averaged a paltry 39.8 yards.
The strength of the offense is the receivers, and they are playing poorly, the strength of the defense is the linebackers, and they are a MASH unit right now. With both units not playing well, whether it is mistakes or injuries the Steelers are losing and seem be falling back to the pack after a meteoric start to the season.
It was inevitable that at some point the Steelers were going to go through this kind of lull. The key now is to see how the coaches adjust to it. The playoffs are a lock, but the division is now very much up for grabs. Coaching is the only thing that will keep this season from failing.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Cam Heyward, he played a tough physical game, the stats didn’t show it, but he proved why he is the team captain and one of the best at his position. We are proud of Steelhead. Also Considered: James Washington, he makes the most of his time on the field and Sunday was no exception, great effort, and he scored the first touchdown of the game.
Where I watched the game: Back at the house with KGB, my friend Mike who came for the first week, and Dante. (Because of the virus, we are limiting people over) There is a curfew in New York so going out for the games during primetime is not possible. In the “Steel the Snacks”, KGB made Buffalo Chicken Tenders with Blue Cheese. They were perfect and it was a special recipe. It makes missing prime-time games out seem like not such a big deal! The Steelers recorded their record setting sack when they came out! It was a mediocre performance against a great snack! Mike brought Pabst Blue Ribbon Pounders, no beer for KGB this week! Dante had A&W Root Beer, which will be out moving forward! A&W is 0-2
My Stat of the week: Stat of the week is 70 straight games with a sack for the Steelers defense, the new record. Tyson Alualu nailed Josh Allen to keep the record streak going. It was a bright spot in a lousy game. The defense deserved better and while it wasn’t a great game, they played well enough. This also marks the third game the Steelers played in 12 days and you can see they were wearing down.
My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers need a big bounce back and they have another prime-time game against the division rival, Terrible Towel stomping Bengals. Look for a slow start and the Steelers to put a second half whupping on them, giving everyone a breather.
This week’s Jersey: Cam Heyward, #97 Away Jersey, He is the heart and soul of the defense and he played great last night pushing Mitch Morse all over the field and causing the Bills’ first turnover.