steelers ROLLER-COASTER SEASON CONTINUES
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a team when Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t have a great game, they can be greatly exposed and that’s what happened in Sunday’s 35-32 loss to the 5-7 New Orleans Saints.
Roethlisberger had a great fantasy day, throwing for 435 yards but in a matchup against another marquee quarterback in Drew Brees, Roethlisberger came up small.
The Steelers were again erratic, including the quarterback, just like they’ve been the last three years. This has been a season where the Steelers offense has to carry the team to make up for a defense that has a ton of holes, but the offense has been as inconsistent as it gets and as good as Roethlisberger been some weeks, he’s also not been consistent enough and truly not good enough to this point.
With the Steelers defense coming out strong, the Steelers offense settled for field goals instead of touchdowns before Drew Brees and the Saints blew the game open as Brees torched the Steelers defense, throwing for 5 touchdowns and no interceptions in the win.
Roethlisberger was unable to match the aging Brees, whose long-term future was coming into question with reports of the Saints preparing to plan for the future by drafting a quarterback high in the draft.
With four games to go, the Steelers playoff chances remain up in the air. They trail the Bengals by 1.5 games for the AFC North and the Steelers remaining schedule, its easy to see them losing three of their next four games and finishing 8-8 once again.
The remaining four games need to fall on the shoulders of Roethlisberger as this is his opportunity to carry a mediocre team into the playoffs, something he’s never done in his career. In previous playoff years, the Steelers have been true playoff teams, this year they’re are not.
STEELERS DEFENSE EMBARRASS THEMSELVES
The Steelers defense on Sunday again showed they’re just a bunch of mis-fits. The group was embarrassing vs the Saints and to make matters worse, lost their heart and soul of the defense in Brett Keisel who is likely out for the season with a left torn triceps.
The Steelers no longer believing they need a stud nose tackle has set them back along with not believing in drafting a cornerback in the first round was a priority and not to mention keeping the wrong cornerback in letting Keenan Lewis go and keeping the likes of Ike Taylor a few years to long.