There were plenty of things that went wrong in the Steelers 27-24 loss to the Chiefs and now sitting at 6-4 overall, it has many wondering; do they have the intestinal fortitude to carry on into the playoffs from here?
With six games remaining, just two (Oakland and Cleveland) appear as potential wins, but after the debacle in Kansas City on Sunday, even those are questionable, although the Browns seem to be playing for the 2010 Draft after a loss to the lowly Lions.
So that game, you might pencil in a ‘W’, but the rest? It's anyone’s guess now, especially when you can't play situational football against a team that not only had won just two games prior to Sunday, but was without two of its best players.
Let’s start from the get-go as to what went wrong, which was a lot.
Special teams coach Bob Ligashesky obviously didn't have his unit ready for this one, after giving up the winning points against the Bengals via a kick return the previous week. Just 16 seconds into the contest, Jamaal Charles took it 97 yards to the house and the Chiefs had a 7-0 lead.
It was beyond pathetic.
How can a unit, where the head coach cuts one of its players to send a message earlier in the week, on the first play of the game allow it to happen for the fourth time in five weeks.
Still, the Steelers resiliency overcame it and for the remainder of the half and the game were dominate both on offense and defense and it looked like they were ready to put a nail in the Chiefs coffin. During regulation the Steelers gained 463 yards to the Chiefs 263.
Then came the blunders and maybe a little complacency in the second half. Yes, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (who left the game with a possible concussion in overtime) had a passer rating over 100 and close to 400 yards in the air. But Roethlisberger also tossed two critical interceptions in the Red Zone.
"I think we lost the momentum in the third quarter with all the turnovers and stuff like that," Hines Ward said. "When you let a team hang around like that, you give them a chance."
Granted with the Steelers leading 17-7, the first Roethlisberger interception came from a rare Heath Miller mistake, where he should have caught the ball and Andy Studebaker caught it. But the other where he tossed the ball into four Chiefs defenders and Studebacker took it back 94 yards, was a lousy decision.
Which is the best way to describe offensive coordinator Bruce Arians playacalling during the game, a bunch of lousy decisions.
Why has he abandoned the muddle huddle which had so much success in the Steelers five game win streak? Why doesn't he have designed plays to alleviate the pressure off Roethlisberger like a screen pass? And why has he abandoned the run when it comes to the Red Zone?
Thanks to his pass happy offensive scheme, the Steelers now lead the league in the longest period of time not having a running back get into the end-zone via a run play. Not exactly Steeler football.
You can also pinpoint the turning point in the game on Arians, once again his play-calling especially in the overtime session.
One could say Ike Taylor should have made the interception and if he does, the outcome may be different. But Arians call when the Steelers were driving and faced a third-and- two at the 35 probably cost the team the game.
The reason is simple. Rashard Mendenhall was toting the ball with confidence and his previous three runs on the Steelers possession in overtime, were seven, seven and eight yards.
Instead of running it down the gut and putting Jeff Reed into his field goal range, Arians decided in his wisdom to utilize a toss play to Mewelde Moore that resulted in a three yard loss.
Those three yards were the difference between Reed being in range and Reed being out of his range.
Arians only calls plays though. It's no secret he doesn't believe in three yards and a cloud of dust, instead relying on pass first. That passer though is the one in pads. The guy catching the ball, the line, the guy toting the ball - they were on the field.
And while there where bright spots, those players including Dick LeBeau’s top ranked defense, had too many blunders especially when it came to the Red Zone to overcome- meaning now instead of regaining a hold on the North Division, the Steelers will be fighting it out for a Wild Card slot at best.
Comments
I couldn't agree more Matt. A big thank you to the Oakland Raiders for beating the Bengals.
What is it going to take for Tomlin to grow a set and TELL Arians to run the ball? Better yet what is it going to take for Arians to get replaced? With the talent that the Steelers have on offense there is no way they should be this pathetic in the redzone. Arians' playcalling is horrendous. There is no rhyme or reason for his calls. Nothing sets up anything down the road. He refuses to call plays that work against the blitz, so keeps are going to keep blitzing. FIRE ARIANS!
keeps=teams in the last sentence.
It'll be interesting to see what Arians does this week if Dixon starts. I can see his thinking now: "They'll expect us to go run heavy with Dixon at QB, so now I'm not going to run at all" Dixon's arm will literally fall off after attempting 85 passes in this game.
Also, take Logan off of the coverage units....he doesn't take on blockers he runs around them. You can't do that. By doing that he gets out of his lane, opening a hole for the return guy and allows the guy that is supposed to block him block someone else.
The Steelers lost again yesterday, this time to the now 3-7 Kansas City Chiefs, in large part due to the familiar culprits: poor special teams and even worse play calling.
The Chiefs returned the opening kickoff for a TD, the 8th straight game that the Steelers have allowed a return (fumble, INT, or kick) for a touchdown.
Bruce Arians also seemed like he was out to doom the running game—well actually the whole team in general.
At one point the Steelers had to move RG Trai Essex to LT, insert rookie Ramon Foster at LG, and fellow rookie Doug Legursky at RG.
Basically, three backup offensive lineman were in the game, so what does Bruce Arians do? He called three straight deep pass plays with seven step drops against a heavy blitz.
As if that wasn't bad enough, Arians' way to get the running game involved was to run on dang near every 1st down (with nearly the same play every time—a counter to the short side of the field) and then pass every play after that until a 1st dow
1st down was gained, a punt, or a turnover occurred.
Arians also continued to seem determined to keep using his beloved "empty backfield" formation until it worked.
Problem is, it's yet to work.
Teams continue to counter this formation with heavy blitzing. That results in Ben Roethlisberger taking a pounding, getting sacked, throwing incomplete passes, turning the ball over, or if the Steelers are lucky, a four yard gain.
And then there was Arians basically saying: "F-you critics, here's your run." On 3rd-and- 3 Arians called a toss to the short side of the field (imagine that!) using the Steelers' 3rd string RB. This was after Rashard Mendenhall had gained 8, 7, and 13 on his previous three carries.
Needless to say the Steelers didn't convert the attempt, and lost yardage to knock them out of field goal range
Lee, you are fired up and rightfully so. When it comes to Arians, two things come to immediate mind. Temple Owls and Cleveland Browns. Check the record when he was there. Keep writing man. I may combine it and put it all in a guest column, its great.
Thanks
First I agree about getting rid of Arians, been saying that every game he was OC, for similar and different reasons.
But what I look at as the problem isn't only just amount of passing but the scheme. Ball control dink and dunk passing is the problem. Watch where the receivers are going, where their routes are (esp on the endzone int). Short, stop n sit, waggle patterns, with 5 wr sets and only 1 going past 10 yds?!?
Now running the ball:
Mendenhall had 12 run of TWO YARDS or LESS. He had a whopping 4 carries that went past 3 yards, against a horrific run defense and Don't blame the O-line. He had a 2.8 ypc in the 1st half and 2.3 in the 2nd half.
3rd QTR when KC scored after the interception to make it 17-14 and we needed to make a statement drive, Ben passed on 1st for 7 yards, and Mendenhall had TWO OPPORTUNITIES to gain 3 yards and FAILED and we punted. 2nd/3 right tackle for two, 3rd/1 right tackle for zippo. It's time to make Parker the starter.
Yeps, also how many sacks did Ben elude? its a lot of fun to have 500 yards on the air, but how many Super Bowls did Dan Fouts win or even Dan Marino? One think I dislike about NFL coaches, is when they go "We are ok, we dont really need a better OL" "Starters on special teams would be band-aid now"... Lord act now. We had awful special teams two years ago and previously, last year the best ones, now we are back, to normal.
I disagree about making Willie Parker the starter again. Mendenhall makes more yards after contact, is much better catching the ball, and is better in blitz pickup.
Also, I think part of the problems in the running game go back to Arians. When you know that 9 out of ten times that it's going to be a counter, as a defender, you'll follow the guard and go right to the ball. And then when you know the run is going to the short side of the field 8 out of 10 times, it makes your job as a defensive player easier, and the job of the blockers harder.
Lee
BLUCE LEE. OH PEE.
MY NAME IS LEE
I HAVE TO PEE
Wow! Imitation is said to biggest form of flattery, so I suppose I should be flattered that someone used my name and rhymed with it.
Luis:
I've been waiting for Ben to *Move* out of the pocket/scramble/rollout...oh, the whole season. Did you see what happened when he avoided a sack and was "old thyme Ben" by keeping the play alive?
How many Super Bowls did Barry Sanders Detroit win? Earl Campbell's Oilers win? Eric Dickerson's Rams win? How many Super bowls did Marshall Faulk's Rams win...ONE you say? OK Yeah...that was with the "lot of fun to have 500 yards on the air" type teams,"The Greatest Show On Turf" where Faulk had what… 17 yards on 10 carries that SB. They were beaten by the Patriots, who also used an aggressive passing offense but kept a solid balance of pass/run (with slightly more passes)…how many SB did they win? Cowboys’ dynasty and the 49’ers Dynasty was Pass/Run balance. Why can we have 400 yards passing and lose but 260 yards passing and blow teams out? That’s the dif between ball control passing and aggressive passing. One racks up yards and the other racks up points. Save bonehead int.
Oh, and there is a huge difference between doubling or tripling the production of an opponent during a close score in a game, and getting 400 yards or more in the air because a team is getting blown out. I find it hysterical during our losing season, people would point to how much crazy passing we would do and get away from Steelers Tradition of Run & D, but every team in the NFL goes desperation pass crazy when getting blown out…but people will point to it as the cause we had a losing season. When a team is down by 24 points…they sure as caca ain’t going to run the ball.
Lee:
I was being lighthearted in saying Parker should be the starter, I was however making a statement that Mendenhall is no better than Parker. They are both Good RB. Mendenhall is not supra awesome. Lets not talk potential, it is this very moment. He had several nice blitz pickups but has also missed a bunch. Better at catching the ball? No, that is an unsubstantiated claim, almost borderline bs. You/fans would like to believe it, but IT isn’t so. Your claim that Mendenhall makes more yards after contact…really? 12 Carries for 2 or less yards per carry…to 4 carries of more than 3 against one of the worst Run D teams would say otherwise. I know Mendenhall looked better in other games (San Diego) but we had a completely different scheme (see aggressive passing first), but so has Parker but Parker was in during the first several games of dink n dunk ball control passing. Parker also doesn’t put the ball on the ground nearly as much as Mendenhall.
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