Tim Benz: ‘Airing of Grievances’ starts with putrid Steelers offense, eroding defense in loss to Bills
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For the third straight December in Pittsburgh, it doesn’t appear that Festivus is going to be very festive thanks to the Steelers.
They lost three times in five weeks in December 2018. Last year, the team dropped three in a row between Dec. 15-29.
Now Mike Tomlin’s team (11-2) lost Sunday night in Buffalo 26-15. A second straight defeat and third straight game in December featuring a point total under 20.
As a result, our “Airing of Grievances” after this failure versus the Bills (10-3) is thicker than grandpa’s eggnog.
And just as “high octane.”
End of the second quarter: Welp. It was a good 25 minutes for the Steelers in the first half. But halftime couldn’t get to them fast enough.
Down 7-0, Buffalo started a drive with just under five minutes remaining in the second quarter. It featured a 23-yard connection between quarterback Josh Allen and receiver Stefon Diggs, where Minkah Fitzpatrick failed to wrap up Diggs after the catch. It occurred on a third-and-3.
Then Steelers defensive lineman Henry Mondeaux was busted for a terrible roughing the passer call. The drive resulted in a field goal.
On the ensuing Steelers possession, Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception which was returned for a touchdown by Taron Johnson.
To. The. House.
#PITvsBUF: https://t.co/x0Ul68YDP8 pic.twitter.com/yApEtpWw1K
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 14, 2020
The Bills missed the extra point. Still, a 7-0 lead suddenly became a 9-7 halftime deficit.
It was interesting to hear NBC analyst Tony Dungy say at halftime that Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier told him how he had drilled the defensive backs to sit down on the Steelers’ short pass routes. Chris Collinsworth said something similar during the replay about how Johnson looked like he knew what was coming.
Of course, he did. Why wouldn’t he know? That’s all the Steelers have been doing for about a month now.
Bent. Then broke: Despite a slew of injuries and absences, the Steelers defense was great for most of the first half, allowing just that field goal drive.
But then it collapsed under the weight of needing to carry the whole team because of the ghastly offense.
Last week, coordinator Keith Butler’s unit gave up 10 receptions for 70 yards to J.D. McKissic. This week, it was wide receiver Diggs who roasted the team. He had 10 catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.
We Digg it‼️
#PITvsBUF: https://t.co/x0Ul68YDP8 pic.twitter.com/BMixfToyrB
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 14, 2020
Allen completed 11 straight passes to open the second half. Think the team missed Joe Haden in the secondary? Or Devin Bush and Bud Dupree at linebacker?
That game looked a lot like last year when Devlin Hodges and Mason Rudolph were the quarterbacks. For that matter, the whole season is taking on that look.
A defense that is wearing thin and getting gassed by an offense that can’t sustain any momentum. If the defense allows more than two offensive touchdowns, the game is cooked.
Things were especially bad on the Bills’ field goal drive in the fourth quarter to make it 26-15. The lethargic Steelers offense finally scored a second offensive touchdown to pull within eight points.
Yet on Buffalo’s next possession, Allen marched 11 plays for 61 yards to kick that field goal.
Along the way, Butler’s troops allowed a third-and-10 pass to move the chains. Plus tight end Dawson Knox beat defensive back Mike Hilton deep and forced a pass interference call at the Steelers’ five-yard line on another third down.
Sorry, but the defense has to be better than that on that sequence. It has to get the ball back via turnover or force a punt.
Is this one long game over three weeks?: Still no change in the Steelers offense. It’s been this way for most of a month now.
It can’t run. And it doesn’t want to run. This week, the pass-run split was a little less egregious (37-17). But when coordinator Randy Fichtner’s crew kept it on the ground, they gained just 47 yards for an average of 2.8 yards per carry.
And Roethlisberger wasn’t much better throwing, a 5.1 yards-per-attempt average and netting a team total of just 177 yards.
This is just comical now: It looked as if receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end Eric Ebron picked up where they left off the last two games.
They both had first half drops. Johnson had two, actually. One on the first throw of the game.
The very … first … throw.
That’s after the team combined for 15 drops (by a conservative count) over the last two weeks.
At least Tomlin followed through on his threat to bench those who kept dropping passes.
Johnson was largely replaced by James Washington the rest of the game. Washington caught a touchdown in the first half.
Johnson did have a few receptions on the Steelers’ second touchdown drive. He wound up with four catches for 40 yards. Ebron had two catches for 30 yards.
Hit fast forward: It looks like Alex Highsmith has been watching game tape of Dupree.
Unfortunately, it appears he has been watching tape from Dupree’s first three years. Not his last two.
Much like Dupree early in his career, Highsmith has been less than impactful so far as the starting right outside linebacker. Similar to the old Dupree, you can see how often Highsmith is working his way far too much up the field on his pass rush and is sometimes running himself out of the play.
Someone should tell Highsmith, the good stuff isn’t so deep in the archives. Watch the last two years for pointers. Ola Adeniyi hasn’t exactly “wowed” in his extended snaps either.
Also, T.J. Watt didn’t have much juice Sunday night, just two tackles. Neither did Stephon Tuitt. He was blanked entirely.
It just won’t stop: The rash of Steelers injuries continues.
The Steelers lost guards Kevin Dotson and Matt Feiler during the game. Tackle Chuks Okorafor left the game for a while, too. So the team was down to its last offensive lineman, Jerald Hawkins.
No, they didn’t throw to him this time. Okorafor came back, at least.
On defense, Highsmith got banged up twice during the game. And running back James Conner seemed limited, too, getting just 10 carries for 18 yards.