Inconsistent play, injuries dogging Steelers
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown ranks among NFL leaders in receptions (48), receiving yards (592) and receiving touchdowns (five).
Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, shown being tackled by Patriots strong safety Patrick Chung last Sunday, returned from a three-game suspension and quickly became a focal point of the Steelers offense, which has been strong at home.
Outside linebacker Jarvis Jones is part of a Steelers defense that has generated a NFL-worst eight sacks.
PITTSBURGH – Preseason darlings to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, the Steelers reached their bye week Sunday – and nearly the midseason point of their schedule – with just a 4-3 record.
That’s good enough to put them in first place in what has been a disappointing AFC North, as Cincinnati and Baltimore stumbled out of the gates.
Injuries hurt the Steelers through the first seven games as 10 starters or potential starters missed time, accounting for a loss of 35 combined games.
Ineffective play on the road also has been an issue as Pittsburgh’s offense, supposedly the strong point, failed to generate much in losses at Philadelphia and Miami.
The following is a look at issues the Steelers face heading into the second half of the season.
The injury bug hit the Steelers early, as tight end Ladarius Green, the big offseason free agent signing, wasn’t ready to practice at the start of training camp because of a surgically repaired ankle. That landed him on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
Within the first week of training camp, outside linebacker Bud Dupree and cornerback Senquez Golson each went down, suffering groin and foot injuries, respectively.
Things have continually gotten worse as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, offensive linemen Ramon Foster and Marcus Gilbert, wide receiver Markus Wheaton, fullback Roosevelt Nix, defensive lineman Cam Heyward, linebacker Ryan Shazier and safety Robert Golden each missed at least one game.
Roethlisberger’s injury is viewed as the most critical. He suffered a knee injury in the first half of the loss at Miami Oct. 16 that required surgery to repair the meniscus.
The original prognosis was he would be out two to three weeks and that seems to be on track. He practiced on a limited basis last week but will need to get through a full practice this week to assure he’s cleared to play at Baltimore. If not, Landry Jones would make his second start of the season.
Things are trending in the right direction for the other injured players as well, as the Steelers look like they’ll be back at full strength – or close to it – coming out of the bye.
Green began practicing last week and could be cleared for the active roster against the Ravens. Dupree is the likely candidate to be designated to return. That would happen sometime in the next few weeks.
The Steelers are 1-2 on the road with a win in the opener at Washington and losses at Philadelphia and Miami. That continues a trend since 2012 of sub-par play away from Heinz Field.
Pittsburgh hasn’t had a winning road record since 2011, going 16-18 in that period, including playoffs.
That’s not all that unusual in the NFL, but if this team wants to reach the Super Bowl, it has to turn that around. Pittsburgh’s last three Super Bowl teams (2010, 2008 and 2005) went a combined 19-5 in road games.
Perhaps that is because good defense seems to travel better than a good offense, which often requires a silent snap count on the road.
Since the start of the 2014 season, Roethlisberger has thrown 51 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions in home games and 18 touchdowns and 18 interceptions on the road.
In the two seasons before that, he had 28 home TD passes and 26 on the road.
The defense not being as good might be a factor, particularly when it comes to stopping the run.
Since the start of the 2014 season, the Steelers are 10-9 on the road but 10-1 when they allow fewer than 100 yards rushing. They’re 0-8 when the opponent tops 100 yards rushing in road games.
The problem would appear to be largely one of defense. When they don’t allow 100 yards rushing in those road games the past three seasons, the Steelers have given up 17.7 points per game. When they do, that number rises to 27.9.
Perhaps because of the Steelers’ injury issues, the defense has been inconsistent.
After recording 48 sacks in 2015, the Steelers have just eight in their first seven games, the lowest total in the league.
Defensive coordinator Keith Butler blitzed the quarterback from all levels in 2015 but has chosen to play more coverage this season in an effort to allow fewer big plays. Pittsburgh has given up just six runs of 20 or more yards and 12 passes greater than 25 yards compared to 15 such runs and 46 such passes in 2015.
But the pressure has to get better.
“We just have to go out there and play the way we’re capable of playing, execute the technique, execute the call and we’re going to be all right,” said defensive line coach John Mitchell. “I’m not panicked. (Butler) isn’t panicked. This defensive staff isn’t panicked. We know where we are. We know what we have to do.”
The offense, expected to be one of the league’s best, hasn’t lived up to its billing. The Steelers have averaged 34 points per game in their wins and 11 in their losses.
Overall, they’re tied for 11th in the league in scoring at 24.3 points per game.
“It’s pretty obvious we need to be more consistent, game in and game out,” offensive coordinator Todd Haley said. “We’ve shown we’re capable of putting up a lot of points when we execute, run and pass. And the games where we haven’t, we haven’t executed the finer details of the game plan.
“We just need to have more consistency across the board. If we do that, we’ll make good things happen.”
Injuries to Foster and Gilbert have hurt, as has inconsistent play from the secondary receivers behind Antonio Brown.
Running back Le’Veon Bell has greatly picked up the slack after missing the first three games while suspended, but the Steelers need Sammie Coates, who has been dealing with a broken finger and cut on his left hand, to get healthy along with Green on the field to make the offense more explosive.
The schedule eases up for the Steelers in their final nine games. The Steelers played four teams in their first seven games that earned playoff spots in 2015, beating Washington, Kansas City and Cincinnati and losing to New England.
Of the remaining schedule, the only game against a 2015 playoff team remaining is at Cincinnati Dec. 18.
More important, there are just three teams remaining on the schedule – Dallas, the Giants and Buffalo – that currently have winning records.
Baltimore and Cincinnati had five each.
And before you start worrying about head coach Mike Tomlin’s supposed poor record against teams with a losing record, realize he’s 51-20 in his career against teams that finish the season below .500. He’s 34-26 in the regular season against teams with winning records.