The Steelers played Sunday’s affair with the Philadelphia Eagles like they should have never gotten off the bus.
The team was beaten in every facet of the game like never before under coach Mike Tomlin, who should be ashamed and embarrassed at his coaches and players for the way the team performed.
The result was simple, a 34-3 butt whipping at the hands of the Eagles who rolled out a rookie quarterback who had beaten two bad defenses.
Sunday, it looked like three bad defenses.
With little to no pressure minus a few plays from James Harrison, Carson Wentz picked apart the Steelers defense to the tune of 302 yards and two touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 125.9.
His counterpart on the other hand, Ben Roethlisberger, was part of an offense that looked nothing like the team that beat up the Redskins in the opener and last week did enough at home against the Bengals to get the team to a perfect 2-0.
Roethlisberger 24-for-44 for 257 yards and a pick for a 62.4 QB rating. He also was sacked four times for 35 yards, and was under pressure just about every time he threw, just like the outing in Philly back in 2008.
There’s no sugar coating this loss in any way. The Steelers were manhandled as much as any Steelers team we’ve seen in the last decade, and that has to be a concern.
Sure it’s just one game, but the result was so totally lopsided, and the fact the team suffered a number of injuries on defense has to have Steeler Nation wondering just what the heck is going on?
Name any important stat, and the Eagles dominated it. Total yards – Philly 426 to the Steelers 251. Time of possession – Eagles 34:56 to the Steelers 25:04.
I also don’t think I’ve ever seen a Tomlin team come out of the halftime locker room as ill prepared as this one was on Sunday.
With the team down 13-3, the Eagles put the game away with relative ease, scoring 21 third quarter points with a big play by Wentz to Darren Sproles, running the ball effectively, and making smart plays while the Steelers seem totally dazed.
The Steelers have a week to think about this complete meltdown, and will get the spotlight of National TV the next time we see them when they play the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night football next Sunday.
For now, what happened Sunday is totally unacceptable in every fashion. Let’s hope it turns into a bump in the road on the way to a successful season.
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Dave B.
September 25, 2016 at 8:34 pm
Three words – Total team collapse . Offense , defense . special teams . A team that by all accounts was hand picked to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl now looks laughable . This Steeler team is not even close to New England and possibly Denver . The Steeler defense is at the very least a year and possibly two of being a championship defense . There is no pass rush and most importantly 1 sack in three full games . If a kid playing in his third career game can pick the Steelers defense apart the way Wentz did , what will happen with Tom Brady ? The most disturbing thing to come from this debacle was Mike Tomlins decision to leave Ben , Antonio and Pouncey in the game after the game was long decided and the Steelers were down by more than 4 touchdowns . It defies pure common sense and seriously brings into question whether or not , Mike Tomlin should continue as coach after the 2016 season . There is no justification for leaving your 100 million dollar investment in the game when there is no possible chance for victory . If Ben had gone down , the 2016 season is over at that point . Plain and simple . Bottom line , its the head coaches responsibility to have his finger on the pulse of his football team to see that they are physically and mentally prepared for the game . Mike Tomlin and his staff failed miserably . Hands down , one of the worst losses in franchise history .
John Volpe
September 26, 2016 at 8:28 am
I must agree thats the saddest I have seen them look in along time. Every facet of the game was a debacle. This was an old fashioned ass kicking and these men should be embarrassed to cash their checks that goes for all the coaches to there was no game plan atleast that I could see. They got the Chiefs this week Tomlin better whip their asses into shape.
Mark
September 25, 2016 at 8:49 pm
I could beat a dead horse but,alas, it will fall on deaf ears. This team will capture nothing with Tomlin as head coach. Butler is just as bad. With all the top picks invested in this defense and that’s the product? Sacks? Turnovers? Missed tackles? Same pitch n catch that this team can’t stop? It’s embarrassing
Jay
September 25, 2016 at 9:07 pm
Every steeler fan should NOT get behind this team as long as they are led by the ill-prepared Tomlin! I realize he can’t go out and make plays but when EVERY phase of the game is dominated by a team I’m NOT convinced yet is even going to win the east, that falls on the head coach. Once twice, whatever but this happens MULTIPLE times each year with this guy! Gradkowski beat him, mallet, glennon, tebow, and the list of subpar teams and quarterbacks that annually beats this guy because the steelers are not prepared is seemingly endless! He never , this Teflon Tomlin, gets the true blame he deserves from the media that for whatever reason wants him to be good and liked so they only ever make excuses for him. They’ll probably come back next week and beat kc but so what! After watching this garbage today, who the hell has any confidence or desire in this team! Oh, by the way asinine Eagles fans, we’ll see just how good your team is when they actually play somebody—3-0 against three garbage teams!
Fabian
September 25, 2016 at 9:49 pm
A total embarrassment for Steeler Nation. All falls on Coach Tomlin and his Staff. His team not prepared, same players always injured, poor game plan!! Just a total collapse. Tomlin get your ass to work as well as your Staff as this was total garbage and NOT STEELERS FOOTBALL!! Remember the Superbowl wins were won due to Coach Cowhers drafting quality players. Now toughen this team up!! REMEMBER THE STEEL CURTAIN! We have a tradition to uphold. If you can’t do it get the hell out of Pittsburgh and let someone who can..This was a total embarrassment, garbage and i literally feel sick. Tomlin you owe STEELER NATION an apology!! Im totally DISGUSTED!!!!
Stephanie
September 25, 2016 at 10:05 pm
You can’t just blame Tomlin …Its all their fault .i saw no drive ,no passion , no heart ! And as much as it pains me ,I really believe my brother is right and football is fixed ..even with the players..of course I didn’t want to hear that ,because that would mean if we win its fixed as well ..but with fantasy football and all the money involved and the upsets the last 5 years more than ever ..I think he’s right …Lets face facts …no one expected pats to win these first 3 games …they did …no one took them all 3 games ..sports book raked it in ..I could go on forever …I’m sooo disgusted by it all I am so so angry ..how come no hard questions to Ben ? Like what’s the frickin plan ? Where’s all your heads ?
Jay
September 25, 2016 at 10:25 pm
You will get no argument from me Stephanie about how the players played and they deserve equal blame….not exonerating them, but I see different players through the years yet the same results against teams in egg-laying situations and THAT falls on the head coach! EVERY YEAR there are multiple games like this! Yes, I am beginning to think perhaps BB is not the consistent , elite QB we all want to make him out to be! You are simply not allowed to have bad games when you are getting 100 million dollars. But like I said, Tomlin and his sound bytes has the media wrapped around his finger and NO ONE, mark my words, NO ONE will blame him to the extent commensurate with the types of identical performances his team’s put out in these situations year in and year out! It’s not right. This man is out coached way more often than the inverse. You never see belichick teams under prepared on the regular basis that Tomlin teams are…same with John Harbaugh. I sure hope, not that I feel that their collective absences mean as much as MOST PEOPLE think,it does, but I sure hope martavis Bryant and bell are happy!
DrGeorge
September 26, 2016 at 7:41 am
See my comments on our victory over Cincinnati and the pre-game comments on Sept. 21. It’s all there: on defense, the weakness of the Steelers D against the run, the hole in the zone defense, and inability to cover receivers man-to-man; on offense, the inaccuracy of Ben R. and his inability to see open receivers and to read the opposing defense properly. I also mentioned the strength of the Eagles defense and O-lines, and predicted the game would be closer than the Steelers’ blowout most pundits expected. I was wrong. So was everyone else. The Eagles trounced the Steelers in convincing fashion.
What no one saw before the game was how good the Eagles O-line is and how good the Eagles pass rush is. The Eagles backfield is average; but their O-line made big holes in our defense for the RBs to run through. The Eagles defensive line shredded our O-line and put pressure on Ben R. all game, sacking him 4 times. Ben R. barely completed 50% of his passes, and A. Brown’s 140 yards receiving mostly came in the second half, when the game was decided. Even when Ben was not rushed, he missed open receivers badly. Our running game was anemic because the O-line couldn’t make holes. The Steelers managed 29 net yards rushing and the offense was one dimensional most of the game. Our offense must compensate for our weak defense this year, and yesterday, it didn’t come close.
This morning, just as it did with Ben R. in 2004, the media will proclaim Wentz a rising star. Maybe he is. Time will tell. He certainly outplayed Ben R. yesterday and made the pregame comparisons look grossly unfair – to Wentz. But on reflection, all Wentz really did was throw accurately and avoid mistakes. He distributed the ball to playmakers and let them excel. He is not yet the Second Coming. Both young Rothlisberger and young Wentz had the good fortune to join teams with a solid defense and a strong O-line. Today, Wentz has both. Ben R. does not.
To be fair, the Steelers D looked a little better (but not much) before Timmons and Shazier got injured; the secondary never looked good because the Eagles offensive coordinator ran patterns that forced our secondary into man coverage. Wentz completed nearly 75% of his passes over all and 85% against the blitz. To be fair, the Steelers offense looked a little better (but not much) before Foster got injured, but Pouncey and Gilbert seemed overmatched the whole game. By game’s end, the Steelers looked beaten up on both sides of the ball. Like the Steelers of old, the Eagles were simply more physical.
My colleagues raise many valid questions above. The Steelers’ coaching staff will have to rethink a few things strategically and compensate for some key injuries. But no one can change the basic flaws in our game: our D-line gets no pressure on opposing QBs, our O-line is still not dominant, and our defensive secondary can’t play man coverage. Coaching can fix some of that, but what we really need is better talent – talent we can’t afford while paying Ben R. 17% of the team payroll. Luckily for us, the Bengals, Browns, and Ravens don’t look good this year, either. We might actually win our division, despite our flaws. But given yesterday’s performance, the Eagles look more like Super Bowl contenders than the Steelers do.
Al
September 26, 2016 at 9:23 am
Complete ass-whooping. As mentioned in some previous comments, why are your star players still in there after the game is lost? I mean, come on, why was Antonio Brown receiving punts when the game was essentially over?