Steelers vs. Cowboys 2012: Pittsburgh ‘playing the worst football of the last three seasons’

Ben Roethlisberger threw an unfortunate interception in overtime, setting the Dallas Cowboys up for an easy field goal and a 27-24 victory.

Dallas and Pittsburgh traded blows all game, heading into the half tied at 10-10 and tying each other again at 17-17 and 24-24. But after getting the ball first in overtime, Roethlisberger tossed a pick which Brandon Carr brought back to the one-yard line, setting up an easy field goal for Dan Bailey.

Although the poor late-game decision was Roethlisberger's, blogger Neal Coolong of Behind the Steel Curtain focused on two other major problems in his postgame recap: Antonio Brown's fumble on a late-game punt return and later decision to not catch a punt, and the team's consistently poor defensive work:

Poor tackling highlighted perhaps the Steelers' worst defensive performance in the last few weeks, but that is at least explainable due to the fact the Steelers had the very bottom of their secondary depth chart covering the high-production receivers of the Dallas Cowboys.

It was the second straight disappointing loss for the Steelers, who had another chance to gain a game on the Baltimore Ravens. At 7-7, they'll need to win next week against the Cincinnati Bengals to make the playoffs.