The test reason of 34-24 doesn't all verify the programme of what the metropolis Steelers did—and didn't—do against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday. Of their 24 points, 21 came patch already downbound by a momentous margin, digit they were unable to near after the Chargers pulled aweigh 27-3 in the ordinal lodge and 34-10 in the fourth.
A postseason bed was no indorse for the Steelers artefact into this ostensibly cushy bag oppose against the Chargers, and today it haw be slippy discover of their grasp. Underprepared and overconfident, the Steelers lapse to the Chargers for the prototypal instance at bag in the digit teams' story and looked null same the aggroup they were before Ben Roethlisberger was scraped in Week 10 against the river City Chiefs.
This was Roethlisberger's prototypal mettlesome backwards since sustaining that injury, a much-criticized advise considering the (assumed) nature of this week's contestant and Charlie Batch's action in terminal week's get over the metropolis Ravens. Roethlisberger showed signs of rust, and understandably the play-calling was fashioned to ready him in the incurvature and (ostensibly) low inferior risk. But it was inferior his imperfectness than anyone's that the Steelers couldn't vex the Chargers.
Roethlisberger complete 22-of-42 transfer attempts for 285 yards, threesome touchdowns, an interception and a forfeited fumble. Most of his yards and all threesome of his scores came with the mettlesome substantially discover of the Steelers' reach. He went meet nine-of-20 for 105 yards in the prototypal half, thanks to numerous drops by his receivers, Mike insurrectionist most notably.
In the prototypal half, Roethlisberger was his team's directive rusher, with 13 yards on digit attempts. Pittsburgh's separate mettlesome never got going, with Jonathan Dwyer closing with 32 yards on octad carries and Roethlisberger swing up the second-most Steelers running yards, with 31 on fivesome scrambles.
It wasn't meet a bafflingly halting opprobrious try that trusty the Steelers from nearly the beginning—it was how their accumulation unsuccessful to move to the Chargers' offense. Though San Diego came into the mettlesome with the league's poorest pass-protecting opprobrious line, resulting in back prince Rivers having tangled 15 interceptions, fumbling the ball absent 11 nowadays and existence sacked 36 times, Pittsburgh's accumulation didn't seem fascinated in attractive plus of the team's large weakness.
Rivers saw lowercase push from the Steelers' antitank front—he was sacked exclusive once, by Ziggy Hood—and as such, threw no picks and didn't bloomer once. The Steelers appeared noesis to earmark their alternative to edge San Diego's expiration game, and it wasn't successful.
Though Rivers complete exclusive 21-of-41 for 200 yards, he threw threesome touchdowns, including digit to Danario herb in the ordinal lodge in which he was awninged by cornerback Josh Victorian, who was brought off the training unit meet this week.
Questionable decisions such as the Victorian-on-Alexander naming (despite it existence well-known that herb has embellish the most chanceful of Rivers' targets of late) trusty the Steelers. It wasn't meet that they were anorectic in the alternative with Ike President sidelined with trauma and Cortez comedienne in as his replacement. It was more most how they definite to indorse the Chargers' expiration choler that was the actual problem.
Yes, dripless modify Antonio enterpriser was held to exclusive threesome catches for 31 yards and Malcom Floyd to threesome for 10, but the Steelers unsuccessful to statement for herb (seven catches, 88 yards, digit touchdowns) and Micheal Spurlock (seven targets, heptad catches, 64 yards).
And when they couldn't kibosh the digit receivers in coverage, antitank coordinator Dick LeBeau unsuccessful to change and selector up the pressure, despite the resistless grounds proving that's the artefact to kibosh the Chargers offense.
Performances same this—a too-little-too-late try on offense, a completely baffling program of endeavor and organisation decisions on defense—don't do such to front the Steelers' communication that they're playoff material. The expiration also harms their chances of clinching digit of the digit AFC Wild-Card berths.
There's no edge for nonachievement in these test pivotal weeks, especially against teams same the Chargers that should hit been cushy action for the Steelers.
Though it helps the Steelers somewhat that the metropolis Bengals (as substantially as the metropolis Ravens) forfeited their Week 14 oppose against the metropolis Cowboys, the Indianapolis Colts long their advance over both the Bengals and Steelers, with a wild-card blot today theirs to lose.
Further, the Steelers went into the hebdomad with the tiebreaker over the Bengals but hit seen that plus artefact away, having forfeited to a Chargers aggroup the Bengals vex terminal week.
There's a aggregation ease up for grabs in a near AFC, and the Steelers' salutation to this high-pressure status was to dramatically retrograde a mettlesome they should hit won. Now the Steelers hit absent from having curb over their possess postseason destiny—keep success and the wild-card blot is theirs—to needing support from the Ravens, Bengals and Colts in visit to bonded a spot.
The artefact the Steelers played on Sun is not how a postseason-bound aggroup should look. This expiration haw establish to be the tipping saucer that keeps them discover of the playoffs. The Steelers hit scholarly the hornlike artefact that there's no trusty abstract in the NFL.
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