Oct 16, 2016 4 min read

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – You can’t be a contender to win the Super Bowl if you can’t win on the road.

And calling Pittsburgh’s 30-15 defeat Sunday in Miami a road game is something of a misnomer for the Steelers.

Yes, Pittsburgh had to travel to Miami.

But there were as many Steelers fans in Hard Rock Stadium as there were Dolphins fans.

The Steelers played in front of a hostile crowd earlier this season in 34-3 loss at Philadelphia. That was not the case in Miami.

Yet the result was largely the same.

The vaunted Pittsburgh offense, which had put up 43 and 31 points in its previous two games, looked like a Pop Warner team trying to move the ball against the Dolphins, who came into the contest allowing over 400 yards per game.

The defense wasn’t good, either, allowing Miami, which had been averaging just over 70 rushing yards per game, to go for 222. Running back Jay Ajayi, who entered with 117 yards on 31 carries, blew past that early in the fourth quarter on his way to a career-high 204 yards on 25 attempts.

The only thing that kept this from turning into a blowout in the same fashion as Pittsburgh’s loss at Philadelphia was that the Dolphins were almost as inept themselves.

Despite not punting or turning the ball over in their first seven possessions, the Dolphins managed only 24 points because they were 2-for-6 in the red zone, getting a 24-yard field goal blocked and missing a 50-yarder. They had a touchdown negated because of an illegal formation.

They were inept. They just weren’t as inept as the Steelers, who are 5-11 in their past 16 games on the road against teams with losing records.

Pittsburgh has visions of being a great team with a great offense.

Great offenses don’t have less than 100 passing yards entering the fourth quarter, as the Steelers did Sunday.

Great offenses don’t get outscored 64-18 in consecutive road games.

“They outplayed us,” said Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “They were the better team.”

But that’s not supposed to be the case, right?

Pittsburgh’s defense is what it is, especially missing defensive end Cameron Heyward and inside linebacker Ryan Shazier, arguably its two best or most impactful players.

That does not explain the struggles of the offense, which, after scoring on a 60-yard end-around by wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey on its second possession, had six-straight possessions – not including the end of the first half – end in interceptions or punts.

That’s not supposed to happen to a team with perhaps the best quarterback-wide receiver-running back trio in the league.

Roethlisberger looked off for much of the game, even before leaving in the second quarter for two series with a knee injury. And wide receiver Antonio Brown was limited to four catches for 39 yards.

Only running back Le’Veon Bell made any kind of impact, gaining 53 yards on 10 carries and catching six passes for 55 yards. But that’s not enough to sustain an offense.

Roethlisberger has to be better. He threw nine touchdowns and no interceptions in his previous two games, both of which were played at home. That’s nothing new. He has 12 touchdown passes against two interceptions in three home games this season. In three road games, he’s at four TDs and four interceptions. It’s been the same thing the past three seasons.

Even if this team somehow manages to beat New England at Heinz Field Sunday – now we’re sounding crazy – unless it solves its road issues, it’s going nowhwere.

This is not a team that can win with an average – or below average as on Sunday – offensive performance.

“Game location doesn’t matter to us,” said defensive end Stephon Tuitt. “We’ve got to keep working. It’s early in the season and we have to figure out what we’re doing wrong and fix it.”

They’d better figure it out quickly because, like it or not, they can’t play all of their games at Heinz Field.

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