As we told you Friday at “Breakfast With Benz,” Sunday’s showdown against the Tennessee Titans (9-5) lined up as exactly the kind of game the Steelers (7-6-1) always win.

Well, they did. By a final score of 19-13. But, wow, did they try hard to get in their own way of doing so.

The season is here. The time is right. Slug back some Iron City-flavored eggnog. Because it’s time to dance around the Black and Gold Festivus pole. Let’s get to our “Feats of Strength” and “Airing of Grievances.”

We have plenty to share on both sides of the ledger.

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FEATS OF STRENGTH

Team takeaway: The Steelers defense forced four turnovers.

OK, well, three. The other was a fumbled snap. But, hey, at least T.J. Watt was there to pounce on it.

We'll take that!!!

????: CBS pic.twitter.com/XKjoOGxipc

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 19, 2021

Unfortunately for the Steelers, the offense was able to generate only four field goals off of those changes of possession.

It’s a good thing the defense was as opportunistic as it was because it was another dreadful day trying to stop the run. The Titans racked up 201 yards rushing.

And no, Derrick Henry was not in uniform for Tennessee. D’Onta Foreman had 109 yards rushing by himself. He and Jeremy McNichols pitched in with a combined 52 receiving yards as well.

Meanwhile, credit the Steelers offense for taking care of the ball. As the defense was taking it away from Tennessee four times, the offense didn’t have any giveaways.

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Saints in the secondary: It’s not often we’ve talked about great tackling by the Steelers defense. However, up 19-13 with 46 seconds left from the Steelers’ 16-yard line, Joe Haden was able to drop Tennessee receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine just inches short of a first down.

Clutch tackle. @joehaden23 just won the game. ????#HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/fgxR2Umirm

— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2021

Haden missed the team’s previous four games after leaving the 16-16 tie against the Detroit Lions with a foot injury.

“It’s not just his play-making,” coach Mike Tomlin said of Haden. “It’s the presence he brings. He’s got leadership skills. He’s got great experience. He smiles in the face of adversity. That’s contagious. There were some tangible and intangible qualities to his presence today.”

The initial spot was an eyelash away from being a conversion for the Titans. Probably too generous in favor of Tennessee, which resulted in some anxious moments in the stands at Heinz Field. But the officials measured it and gave the ball to the Steelers. The play was reviewed and upheld. A Steelers celebration ensued.

Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick had 14 total tackles (12 solo). He also recovered a fumble. Arthur Maulet forced a fumble, had five tackles and was very active all afternoon.

Also, no Titans pass-catcher had a reception longer than 18 yards all day.

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Bench comes up big: Backup outside linebackers Taco Charlton and Derrek Tuszka both came up with huge plays in the fourth quarter.

With the score tied 13-13, Taco Charlton deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage, and Joe Schobert intercepted it.

SCHO TIME ????

????: CBS | @JoeTheScho pic.twitter.com/xSa7la85vl

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 19, 2021

That led to a Chris Boswell field goal to give the Steelers a 16-13 lead.

Up 19-13, with the Titans driving into the Steelers’ red zone and Watt on the sidelines, Tuszka forced a fumble while sacking Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The Titans recovered the fumble. But the play still forced a loss of 8 yards with only 53 seconds left, resulting in a third-and-15.

Eventually, the Steelers got the ball back to kneel out the clock after Haden’s tackle.

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On Boz’s back: Boswell missed a 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half. But he made four of them on the day.

Two of those kicks were beyond 45 yards, in the fourth quarter, into the open end of the stadium.

Aside from Boswell, though, the special teams didn’t help matters at all.

Pressley Harvin had two bad punts. His first went just 27 yards. He had another in the first half that went only 32. He drilled one 51 yards, only to watch Chester Rogers run it back 55. Plus, there was a penalty on James Pierre along the way.

That set up the Titans on the Steelers’ 25-yard line. Tannehill scored on a quarterback sneak six plays later for Tennessee’s first touchdown of the game.

By the way, before that possession, which resulted in Boswell’s miss from 56 yards, the Steelers should have called a timeout while the Titans still had the ball. They took over following Randy Bullock’s field goal to make it 13-3 Tennessee with just 21 seconds remaining in the half.

They should have called timeout more quickly after third down or between second down and third down. That would’ve given them enough time to get Boswell closer for a more makeable attempt.

AIRING OF GRIEVANCES

Another flat first half: For the fifth straight game, the Steelers were terrible in the first half.

Earlier in the week, we chronicled how lousy the Steelers have been to start games over the last month or so. Well, they did nothing to change that tune Sunday against the Titans.

After an initial first down from Diontae Johnson on the first snap of the game, the Steelers then went “nine-and-out.”

Yup. Nine straight plays, netting 2 yards of offense. Three punts.

“Our struggles, particularly in the first half, were on possession downs,” Tomlin said after the win. “That struggle was teed up by penalties. Pre-snap penalties. False starts and so forth. We weren’t able to gain any type of cohesion because we were losing possession.”

The defense was awful, too, allowing the Titans to run 40 plays (the Steelers had 21). Tennessee also had the ball for 21 minutes, 19 seconds of the first half. The Steelers had it for only 8:41.

Tannehill and the Titans offense converted six third-down conversions on 10 attempts. The Steelers were 0 for 5.

The Steelers tried only five rushing attempts and got just 16 yards out of them. Ten yards came on a reverse to Johnson.

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It’ll never end: Beyond the problems Tomlin pointed out, the Steelers’ play-calling on third downs is maddening. And their fascination with throwing short of the sticks is mind-boggling.

They did it in the first quarter on a 4-yard, underneath throw to Johnson on third-and-10. They did it again on a third-and-6 pass to Najee Harris that went for 4 yards in the second quarter. And, again, on a third-and-14 dump down to Harris that only netted 5 yards. Plus, one more time on third-and-9 in the fourth quarter leading to Boswell’s fourth field goal.

Just to name a few examples.

On that short catch by Johnson, they took Pat Freiermuth out of the game in favor of Ray-Ray McCloud, and they left Zach Gentry in to block along the line of scrimmage. I’m not sure how that makes them more of a threat to pick up a first down.

Then there was that hideous goal-line decision to throw a 50-50 fade pass prayer to McCloud on third down from Tennessee’s 18-yard line. That killed the red zone possession down 10-0 in the second quarter and resulted in a short field goal.

In all, the Steelers were just 2 for 11 on third downs and ran only 45 offensive plays as opposed to the Titans’ 78. As a result, they only had the ball for 20:52.

All that despite forcing four turnovers.

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