There weren’t many smiling faces among the Steelers yesterday, despite beating Baltimore, 19-14 ,to move to 11-0 and remain the NFL’s only undefeated team. They played poorly in all three facets – offensive, defensive, and special teams – according to coach Mike Tomlin, and it was an effort that was “unacceptable.”
After the Steelers recovered a fumble but missed a chance to score on a fourth-down interception in the end zone, Joe Haden picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown to make it 6-0, but Chris Boswell missed the extra point. Boswell later kicked short field goals to put the Steelers up, 12-7, at halftime, but they lucked out at the end of the half when the Ravens could not score on a fourth-and-inches pass that would have given them the lead.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 266 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to JuJu Smith-Schuster, and the Steelers held on for the narrow win. Steelers receivers dropped six passes – eight according to Smith-Schuster – and the defense was ripped for a 40-yard run by quarterback Robert Griffin III as the Ravens kept the game close. After Griffin left with a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter, former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown to bring Baltimore within five points.
The Steelers’ collective bad mood after the game was compounded by the loss of star outside linebacker Bud Dupree, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee. They also played without All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey, who was placed on the Reserve/Covid-19 list hours before the game. Running back James Conner and defensive end Stephon Tuitt also missed the game because of Covid.
Coach Mike Tomlin was perturbed by his team’s play.
Tomlin ticked off a list of deficiencies by the Steelers.
Ben Roethlisberger says the Steelers just played poorly.
Linebacker TJ Watt agreed with Tomlin that the Steelers were not good.
As for replacing Dupree at outside linebacker, the Steelers have only rookie Alex Highsmith and backup Ola Adeniyi on the active roster, and veteran Jayrone Elliott on the practice squad.
With three sacks yesterday, the Steelers are now one short of Tampa Bay’s record of 69 straight games with at least one sack. They are back at Heinz Field on Monday evening at 5:00 against Washington.
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