Five Takeaways Following the Steelers Loss to the Saints

1. Ben’s Two Picks Were Killers – While turnovers usually change games and usually lose them, the two Ben Roethlisberger picks on Sunday were bigger than they may have appeared. The first one came when, as Ben said it, the team was in max protection, and instead of throwing the ball away or taking a sack, threw in double coverage to – of all wide outs – Darius Heyward-Bey. The first pick came with the Steelers down just 7-6 and they were at the Saints 42. New Orleans then drove 80 yards and scored to make it 14-6. The second pick came on the Steelers third offensive play of the second half, after stopping the Saints on their first possession, Cam Jordan knocked a Ben pass into the air, and caught it, giving the Saints the ball back at the Steelers 21. Two plays later it was 21-6. Overall, two picks, a 14-point swing. In a game lost by 3 – those picks were back breakers.

2. ‘Renegade’ Fails to Deliver – For those that have been to Heinz Field in the past, you know that when the defense needs a lift, they play the Styx song ‘Renegade’ with a video and more times than not it with the crowd in a frenzy the D makes a play. Sunday not only did they not make a play, they gave up two huge plays that resulted in a Saints TD that killed any momentum the Steelers had. Le’Veon Bell had just scored a TD that made it 21-13, and then they pushed the Saints to a 3rd-and-10, and a returning gave up a 69-yard TD to Kenny Stills, who torched the Steelers all day. Taylor was awful Sunday, and it was that TD that defined the day for the Steelers defense.

3. The End of the Half was a Disaster – Down 14-6 the Steelers clearly needed to get at least 3 before the end of the half to build some momentum, and instead they wasted great field position with time on the clock and came away with a lame field goal attempt from 54 yards out. The team had the ball at the Saints 36 with :18 seconds left, and Ben threw three bad passes, two to Heath Miller and one to Antonio Brown, a pass in which he was clearly covered. The team really needed another 5-6 yards to give Shaun Suisham a legit chance at a field goal opportunity, and instead trotted him out there for a 54-yard attempt, which of course was short. In a day of inept play, this was about as bad as it got.

4. Returning Vets Hurt More than Helped – Ike Taylor played a game that was downright awful, giving up that 69-yard TD to Kenny Stills when the game was still in the balance at 21-13, and every time the Saints needed a play, Taylor or William Gay seemed to give up chunks of yards. Troy Polamalu also was no help to the defense, and on one TD both he and Taylor totally whiffed, when each could have made a play. The defense was simply awful all day, and while they could have used some plays from guys returning, they wound up getting nothing but negative plays from two guys they really needed to step up and play well.

5. Inexcusable Loss to another Sub-.500 Team – All the stars seemed to be aligned for the Steelers to get to 8-4 on Sunday, and they laid one of their biggest eggs in a long time. The Saints had lost 3 in a row, were on the road where they were 1-4, and had played just 6 days ago when the Steelers had an extra week to relax after a bye week. In the end, this was a letdown on all levels, and all units failed in their prep for this game which should have been a win. The players, coaching staff and even front office should be ashamed of this effort, and all of them should look in the mirror, as it’s the third time this season they have dropped a game to a team they clearly should have beaten (Bucs and Jets the other two). Fans are irate today – and they should be after that effort vs the Saints.