Ben’s 5 interceptions lead to Steelers’ loss
Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt hold on to the leg of Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette Sunday at Heinz Field.
Steelers inside linebacker Ryan Shazier struggles with a Jacksonville lineman as he works to bring down Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette Sunday.
The Jacksonville secondary attempts to tackle Steelers tight end Jesse James during Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh.
Jaguars strong safety Barry Church takes an interception of a pass to Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown in for a touchdown in the third quarter of Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin takes questions at a news conference after Sunday’s loss to Jacksonville. The Jaguars won 30-9.
Associated Press
No fans will be permitted at Pittsburgh Steelers or University of Pittsburgh home games at Heinz Field in September.
PITTSBURGH – For the second time in three weeks, the Steelers went into a game favored by at least a touchdown and bumbled their way to a loss.
This time, instead of dropping that game on the road, they did so at Heinz Field and in spectacular fashion.
Jacksonville intercepted Ben Roethlisberger five times, returning two for second-half touchdowns, and rushed for 231 yards, as the Jaguars routed the Steelers, 30-9, in front of a stunned crowd.
Like their overtime loss three weeks ago in Chicago, it wasn’t one thing that went wrong; it was many.
Roethlisberger threw for 312 yards, his first 300-yard game in 11 regular season outings, but the five-interception game was the first of his career and the first by a Pittsburgh quarterback since Mark Malone did it in 1987.
“It’s hard to say when you don’t play well and let your team down with your play,” said Roethlisberger when asked what kind of identity the Steelers are developing. “I just look at it as I need to play better.”
It couldn’t have been much worse for the Steelers, who fall to 3-2 and are now in a tie with Baltimore atop the AFC North standings after the Ravens bounced back from a loss to Pittsburgh two weeks ago by winning in Oakland.
The Steelers are just 8-7 since the start of the 2010 season the week after beating the Ravens and seem to be on an emotional roller coaster. Win big one week, lose the next.
“As a team, we have to stay consistent,” said Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward. “There can’t be highs. There can’t be lows. We have to stay even keel. From last week to this week is just unacceptable. We knew what they were going to do and they did it.”
What the Jaguars (3-2) wanted to do was run the football and protect quarterback Blake Bortles.
The Steelers played right into their hands by handing the Jaguars their first 20 points on Roethlisberger interceptions.
His first, a pick at midfield by Jalen Ramsey, resulted in Jacksonville’s first touchdown, which capped an 80-play 48-yard drive on a 2-yard Leonard Fournette touchdown run.
That helped give Jacksonville a 7-6 halftime lead.
The Steelers regained the lead, 9-7, on a 20-yard Chris Boswell field goal, but it was Boswell’s third field goal from inside the Jacksonville 20 as Pittsburgh’s offense failed to score a touchdown in three red zone trips.
“We’ve got to get 7s or 6s in those situations,” said guard Ramon Foster. “That falls on us, period.”
Pittsburgh forced a punt on Jacksonville’s next possession, when the Jaguars attempted their only pass of the second half, and the Steelers took over at their 23.
Two plays later, they trailed 13-9 when linebacker Telvin Smith intercepted a tipped pass intended for Antonio Brown and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown.
Despite missing the extra point, the Jaguars stayed in control of the momentum as a third Roethlisberger interception, again targeted for Brown, was intercepted by safety Barry Church and returned 51 yards for a touchdown and a 20-9 lead.
Jacksonville scored 13 points despite running three plays that failed to net a yard in third quarter.
Jacksonville would change that when it regained possession following a Pittsburgh punt on the opening play of the fourth quarter at its own 4.
Thirteen running plays later, the Jaguars had a 23-9 lead after a 47-yard Jason Myers field goal in a drive that drained 8:07 off the clock.
“It’s definitely demoralizing,” said Steelers inside linebacker Ryan Shazier of that drive. “You’re trying to stop something and they’re able to constantly just continue to run the ball. It starts to wear on you. We’ve got to do a much better job of playing the run. We’re known for playing the run, known for being a good defense. We didn’t do a good enough job.”
In any phase.
Roethlisberger threw two more interceptions after that, the last one coming on a pass again intended for Brown, this one in the end zone two plays after a touchdown pass to Brown had been negated by a holding penalty on David DeCastro with 3:37 remaining in the game.
“You would hope so,” said Roethlisberger when asked if that could have been a game-changing score. “You’re only down one score then.”
The interception made it a moot point and Fournette put the finishing touches on the game by running 90 yards around left tackle on third-and-2 coming out of the two-minute warning.
“For us, more than anything, it’s not about what happened,” said Tomlin. “We saw what happened. We participated in what happened. It’s how we respond to it, and respond, I’m using my words very carefully there because we don’t need to react to it.”
Brown was targeted 19 times, catching 10 passes for 157 yards. … Le’Veon Bell had 15 carries for 47 yards and caught 10 passes for 46 for the Steelers, who ran the ball 20 times for 70 yards. … Bortles finished 8 of 14 for 95 yards and an interception. He threw one pass in the second half. … Linebacker James Harrison was a healthy scratch for the Steelers.