Nov 9, 2014 5 min read

MEADOWLANDS, N.J. – How about those last-place Steelers?

It doesn’t have much of a ring to it and doesn’t feel right, considering they are 6-4.

That’s where the Steelers find themselves after Sunday’s 20-13 loss against the New York Jets. They began the weekend tied with Cleveland for first in the AFC North.

“That’s the way the North is right now; it’s a jumbled mess,” said Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel. “Everyone’s kind of right there. We need to assert ourselves with these last six games we have and continue to stay in the hunt.”

The Steelers had an opportunity to do that against the Jets and fumbled and bumbled away the opportunity, turning the ball over four times against a team that entered the game with three forced turnovers in its first nine games.

Pittsburgh not performing well on the road is becoming a common sight this season. Yes, the Steelers own a couple of road victories, but really, they played only one good half, the final two quarters in a 37-19 win at Carolina Sept. 28.

Outside of that game, the Steelers have scored three offensive touchdowns in their other four road games and are just 2-3 when they don’t play at Heinz Field.

Turnovers were the driving force behind yesterday’s loss.

“It’s hard enough to win in this league,” said running back Le’Veon Bell. “But it’s really hard when you turn the football over. We turned the football over.”

That was uncharacteristic of not only the Steelers, but of the two players who accounted for all four turnovers – quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Antonio Brown.

Roethlisberger, who had thrown just three interceptions all season, had two against the Jets. Brown, who had lost just two fumbles in his career entering this game, doubled that total.

Unfortunately for the Steelers, Roethlisberger and Brown weren’t alone in failing to make plays.

Cornerback William Gay, who has been one of the steadiest players on defense, was beaten deep for a 67-yard touchdown pass by T.J. Graham in the first quarter. Late in the third quarter, Gay dropped an interception inside the Pittsburgh 5 that would have thwarted the Jets’ best offensive series since the first quarter.

Instead, New York kicked a field goal to go ahead 20-3.

Placekicker Shaun Suisham connected on a career-long 53-yard field goal at the end of the first half, then missed a 23-yard attempt on the first play of the fourth quarter.

With the Steelers trailing 20-6 midway through the fourth quarter, they surprised the Jets with an onside kick and recovered it. But Darrius Heyward-Bey was called for being offside on the kick – though replays showed that might not have been the case.

It was that type of day.

“There’s nothing mystical about the outcome of that football game,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “We talked all week about why that team had struggled; they were last in the league in turnover ratio. They were minus-15. They weren’t today. They were plus-4. You’re going to lose football games when you’re minus-4 in the turnover ratio, and we did.”

One bad game in the past month, however, doesn’t erase where the Steelers are positioned, even though they blew an opportunity to stay ahead of the pack.

It does beg the question why the Steelers – and Roethlisberger in particular – haven’t played well on the road?

“If there was a pattern there, we would fix it,” said Roethlisberger.

But there is a pattern. Roethlisberger has thrown five touchdown passes and four interceptions in five road games. At home, that turns into an 18-1 ratio in five games.

Those are drastic splits for a player considered to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

It shouldn’t continue.

This team has shown itself to be much better than it played against the Jets.

“Everyone’s upset because we know what type of team we have,” Keisel said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. We know we’re better than how we played out there.”

The goals this team set at the beginning of this season are still attainable. But not until the Steelers figure out a way to play more consistent on offense.

That can start Monday night at Tennessee.

F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.