GREEN BAY, Wisc. – In what might have been a precursor to a new approach, the Steelers scored a touchdown on their opening possession – the first time in 12 games they had managed a point in the first quarter.
But what followed on the soggy tundra at Lambeau Field was just more of the same for the Steelers – a defense that couldn’t get off the field, a lack of flow and consistency from the offense and enough ineffective fourth-down play-calls to fill a blooper reel.
And, of yeah, another defeat, this time to the Green Bay Packers, 27-17 – their third in a row and eighth in the past 10 games, dating to last season. Their prospects for a turnaround look as gray and soupy as the sky that hung over Lombardi Avenue on Sunday.
“I think this is going to test us all,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “I think we need to look in the mirror and figure out what path we want to take.”
Right now, that path has led them to their second 1-3 start in the past three seasons and taken them to the bottom of the AFC North, already two games behind the other three teams in the division -- Baltimore, Cleveland and Cincinnati.
“There’s nothing mystical about it,” Coach Mike Tomlin said. “We don’t like where we are. More importantly about not liking where we are, it’s about what we do about it.”
The Packers didn’t even offer the Steelers the Rodgers rate. They scored on five consecutive possessions, beginning in the second quarter, behind quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns. He also scrambled for a 4-yard touchdown in his first appearance against the Steelers in 11 years.
Rodgers was sacked three times – twice by Wisconsin native T.J. Watt – and he didn’t complete a pass longer than 28 yards. But he converted 9 of 15 third-down chances, including 5 of 7 on the five scoring possessions.
“I think every quarterback in the league can take advantage of a defense when guys are out of their gaps,” Watt said.
The Steelers made an attempt to change what has been ailing them when they scored on their opening possession on Roethlisberger’s 45-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson – the first time this season they had managed any points in the first 24 minutes of a game.
And they looked as though they were building some semblance of a running game when rookie Najee Harris had 40 yards on his first seven carries in the first half.
But Roethlisberger missed JuJu Smith-Schuster on a deep slant that would have tied the game and cornerback Joe Haden was ruled offside when Minkah Fitzpatrick blocked Mason Crosby’s 31-yard field-goal attempt and scored on a 75-yard return near the end of the first half.
“We had a splash play to no avail,” Tomlin said.
The misfire to Smith-Schuster was just one of three on which Roethlisberger failed to connect with his fifth-year receiver. He missed again on the first possession of the second half when Smith-Schuster got behind the defense on a deep slant. And failed for a third time on a third-down pass in the middle of the field in the fourth quarter.
That incompletion set up yet another poorly conceived fourth-down play – a 2-yard pass to Smith-Schuster that was 3 yards behind the chain necessary for a first down with 10:05 remaining.
“We got to have those plays, particularly when you’re not playing as well as you like,” Tomlin said. “We had our opportunities to get behind them. We didn’t take advantage of it.”
Roethlisberger said he missed those throws because he dropped his elbow in his throwing motion, causing him to be “not as accurate.” He also said he was caught between the type of throw he needed to make – either putting a little air under the ball or firing a rope between defenders.
In each case, Smith-Shuster blamed himself for not making the play. When he came off the field after the second misfire, he threw his helmet to the ground in disgust and was angrily animated on the sideline.
“I make those balls. I make them in practice.” Smith-Schuster said. “I fell short. I take full responsibility and blame. I knew that it was going to be a quick ball that was coming, kind of took my eyes off it, went up to try to grab it, didn’t make the play. That’s something I’ve got to get better at.”
But it wasn’t just the inability to make plays downfield. The flow of the play-calling is disjointed, especially because the Steelers are trying to find a running game and then do everything to get away with it.
Five times in the first half Harris carried for at least 4 yards on first down, twice getting 8 and 7 yards. And, after each gain, Roethlisberger threw on second down. The worst example came on the second possession when they were backed at their own 4. After Harris gained 5 yards on first down, Roethlisberger threw incompletions on the next two plays.
The Packers used 13 plays on the subsequent drive to tie the game on Rodgers’ 4-yard scramble touchdown.
“I thought we kind of started to get the run game going,” Roethlisberger said. “We had decent plays. I think there’s more out there. At the same time, we have to take shots. Right now we’re just a little bit off.”
