Oct 25, 2015 4 min read

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“Fire everybody.”

That’s the general theme on social media after the Steelers lost at Kansas City, 23-13.

“The Steelers once again lose to an inferior team,” was another theme.

Seriously.

The Steelers lined up in Kansas City with their third-string quarterback and a left tackle both making their first career starts.

I thought the Steelers could do enough to win this game, if they didn’t turn the ball over. But they did. Three times.

It must be Todd Haley’s fault. Make that Mike Tomlin. He didn’t have them prepared.

You know, all the tired clichés.

@ Ben Roethlisberger will be back next week against Cincinnati. That will help cover up a lot of warts that this team has.

The biggest issue appears to be the defense, not that it’s a surprise.

As we saw Sunday, if the defense isn’t getting turnovers, it’s pretty average.

Tackling continues to be an issue – though it is across the NFL – and it’s time that the coaching staff realizes that it can’t continue to line up with Antwon Blake at cornerback.

@ I thought Tomlin made one critical error in the game – going for a fourth-down conversion at the Kansas City 32 with his team trailing 6-3.

Placekicker Chris Boswell has been solid since joining the team and though a 48-yard field goal wasn’t a chip shot, he’s already hit several of that length.

Kick the field goal and tie the game.

It wouldn’t have mattered in the grand scheme of things in a 10-point loss, but maybe it would have.

@ Alejandro Villanueva took giving up a strip-sack late in the game to Tamba Hali pretty hard.

But after the game, Roethlisberger was there giving the big man some encouraging words. He knows that with Kelvin Beachum out for the season, Villanueva has to move on quickly.

He can’t dwell on one bad play.

@ Ryan Shazier makes some tremendous plays. But he also blows some assignments as well, especially when he drops into coverage.

His speed can often make up for those mistakes – but not always.

@ With Roethlisberger coming back, the Steelers are actually not in a bad spot.

At 4-3, they have two games remaining against Cincinnati – starting with one this week – and play their next three games at home.

If they beat Cincinnati, there’s a good chance of going 3-0 in those games, though the Raiders won’t be a pushover.

@ All Martavis Bryant does is catch touchdowns. He now has 11 in 12 career games.

@ If there’s one knock against Le’Veon Bell, it’s that he doesn’t have breakaway speed.

That’s certainly nitpicking with the NFL’s best all-around running back, but if he doesn’t get caught from behind by Shaun Smith on a 42-yard run in the fourth quarter, the Steelers probably win this game.

Instead, Smith caught Bell, Jones was sacked on third down and the Steelers settled for a Chris Boswell field goal that made it 16-13 instead of 17-16.

But the Chiefs scored 23 points, you say.

Sure. But if the Steelers had taken a lead there, there would have been a lot more pressure on Kansas City on its ensuing possession.

@ Of course, the play of the game – perhaps – came on the next possession, as Alex Smith hit Travis Kelce for a 26-yard pass on third-and-4.

Social media again exploded. “How could they not cover Kelce?”

Actually, it wasn’t bad coverage. Smith made a very good throw and Kelce a good catch.

That guy’s pretty good and sometimes the other team makes a good play.

@ Without Stephon Tuitt, the Steelers’ pass rush didn’t offer much against an offensive line that came in having allowed Alex Smith to be sacked 23 times.