The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped their third road game in as many tries on Thursday night, losing 26-23 to the Tennessee Titans on Rob Bironas' last-second field goal.
Steelers vs. Titans, Week 6: Both sides of ball to blame in Pittsburgh
For a team that lost on the game's last play, a lot went wrong for the Steelers. They had to deal with injuries -- Rashard Mendenhall and his backup Isaac Redman were hurt, as were three Pittsburgh offensive linemen, gutting the run game -- dropped passes, and poor defensive play. Neal Coolong of SB Nation's Behind the Steel Curtain put the loss on both sides of the ball:
While this loss will likely be tabbed nearly exclusively on the defense - which netted three sacks, a forced fumble and an interception - the Steelers offense got very little production from anyone who did not break a passing record in the evening.
Ben Roethlisberger played a decent game while breaking Terry Bradshaw's Pittsburgh passing record, but Coolong notes how a missed pass on third down forced the team into kicking a long field goal late. When Shaun Suisham's attempt fell short, the Titans didn't have much ground to cover to get into field-goal range for an attempt of their own, which Bironas nailed for the win. On defense, the goat was Ike Taylor, whose pass coverage was lacking.
The loss leaves a Steelers squad expected to be a contender in the AFC at 2-3 -- not where Coolong had hoped the team would be:
In total, It’s a rough loss, and another peek into what appears to be a bleak current outlook for the Steelers season. Injuries are difficult to overcome, but it shouldn’t have been this hard.
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