The Steelers latest effort in South Florida was much like the one three weeks back in their last road game in Philadelphia – a game that ended the same way – with a loss.
Inability to stop the run, an awful game on offense, and an injury to their franchise quarterback spelled doom on Sunday, as the Steelers dropped to 4-2 with a 30-15 loss to a Miami Dolphins team that had won just one game in five tries.
Ben Roethlisberger injured his left knee in the first half and while he missed some time he did return in the second half, but was mostly ineffective going 19-for-34 for 189 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
The offense as a whole did little, scoring an early touchdown on a 60-yard reverse by Darrius Heyward-Bey and getting the two-point conversion, and then not scoring again until the game was basically out of reach with just a minute left in the game when Roethlisberger hit newly inked WR Cobi Hamilton with a 23-yard score.
Not that it really mattered, but the Dolphins put the game away when Jay Ajayi raced 62 yards to end the terrible defensive effort by the black and gold.
Without starters Cam Heyward and Ryan Shazier, again the pass rush was nowhere to be found, and the run defense was the worst it’s been in a very long time.
Ajayi ran through the Steelers for over 200 yards, ending the afternoon with 204 yards on 25 carries and the touchdown icing on the cake in the final minute.
Missed tackles, and just out and out lazy tackling was the signature of the Steelers defense all afternoon. They didn’t do much better in the pass game against Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
The often maligned quarterback was 24-for-32 for 252 yards and hit a couple downfield plays in the first half that wound up being big plays as the Dolphins rallied from down 8-3 to eventually take a 16-8 halftime lead.
The Steelers run game against the worst run defense in the NFL never got going minus Heyward-Bey’s 60-yard run. Le’Veon Bell ran for just 53 yards on 10 carries, and DeAngelo Williams had just 10 yards on three carries.
The week should be awfully interesting with the loss, combined with the injury to Ben’s knee, which will likely be shrugged off since he was able to return in the second half.
The Steelers still have control of the AFC North, as the Bengals lost to the Patriots, and the Ravens fell in New York to the Giants.
Next week the Steelers have a huge home game as they will play host to the Patriots at 4:25pm.
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DrGeorge
October 16, 2016 at 6:00 pm
The Steelers didn’t look today like the same team that beat the Jets, Chiefs, and Bengals. And in fact, they weren’t the same team. Injuries make a difference. Injuries on the O-line and D-line especially make a big difference. We were lucky to lose by only 15 points.
The offense never did get going, even with Ben, Bell, and Brown healthy. After Ben tweaked his knee, it didn’t get any better. The O-line simply couldn’t open running lanes for Bell or Williams consistently. The passing game misfired all day until Hamilton scored the final TD for the Steelers to narrow the gap to 8 points, which we promptly gave back. The passing stats were even worse than they appear, because Ben padded them late when the game was all but over. Proving once again that stars aren’t enough for victory; offensive success starts with the play of the O-line.
The lack of offensive production hurt the defense. The under-manned D actually had some valiant goal line stands in the first half, and Miami was forced to settle for three field goals instead of TDs. But the D got no rest. The offense couldn’t stay on the field. The time of possession was nearly 2-1 in favor of Miami. We don’t have the defensive depth to overcome a disparity that great.
The weakness of the entire AFC North was on display today, with the Ravens, Bengals, and Browns all losing outside of the division. Incredibly, that means we’re still on top, the best of a mediocre lot at 4-2. But for how long? With the Patriots coming to town, if we don’t get well fast, we could easily slide into the bye week at 4-3. Not the end of the world, perhaps, but a far cry from the Super Bowl contender talk that was passing for insight last week.
Jay
October 16, 2016 at 6:12 pm
Injuries schminjuries, Doc. This Miami team will win four or five this year! Our backups should’ve won. Hey ward is overrated by the way becaus he was picked in the first round and does nothing in terms of getting after the quarterback. Tuitt is also a propaganda pipe dream. If youdraft guys in the first round at 3-4 DE positions, then they better be stat compilers and not just block occupiers. This dolphins defense is an abortion and should be illegal it’s that bad, yet they film watched our offense up and created a game plan to stop us…our only guy OUT on offense was RT Gilbert. You should still be able to put up points but Haley was taken to the woodshed which is unacceptable, butler is just plain unacceptable and Tomlin will go yet another embarrassing loss against a minor league team and will deflect blame and everyone will blame injuries, etc. when does it end with losing to bad teams? When is steelers nation gonna rise up and be like this is unacceptable?!
Jay
October 16, 2016 at 6:21 pm
If we win against New England next week I will be the first one on here saying, “big deal! You shoulda taken care of business against Miami! It’s the losses to teams like the hapless dolphins each year, MULTIPLE TIMES EACH YEAR, that coat us playoff seeding. If you’re okay with Tomlin as coach, you are obviously not paying attention and probably not an educated Steelers fan. Intense Steelers fans DO NOT FORGET ALL THE ASS WHOOPING WE HAVE BEEN DEALT BY HORRENDOUS TEAMS DATING BACK TO 2011. Plain old unacceptable. By the way, the line was doing a fine job in the running game, perhaps not what we’ve been used to but good enough in a one score game for awhile to not have to asked ben to throw as as he was throwing. Ben a drama queen by the way limping off the field at the end like that. There ain’t nothing wrong with his leg that he needs an MRI. This is worse than the philly loss becaus it seem like philly at least okay, not abysmal like the dolphins! Nothing else to say except like I said before, NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH THESE LOW CHARACTER, OFT INJURED, POT SMOKING PLAYERS LED BY THEIR FRIEND, NOT COACH, TOMLIN, WHERE THE ONLY FEAR HE INSTILLS EACH WEEK IS WHO GETS TO SIT NEXT TO HIM AND BE HIS BUDDY AT LUNCH.
Dave B.
October 16, 2016 at 7:39 pm
I agree injuries do make difference , but in the case of the Steelers there was still enough talent on the field that this game should have been won by the Steelers easily . Keep in mind , we are talking about a Dolphin team that cut two starters after last weeks game for what was called a lack of effort . Thats how bad this Dolphin team is . This Steeler team was outplayed but more importantly it was out coached as well . Yes Ben had a bad game as all quarterbacks do . It happens . However why did our all pro running back only have 10 carries for the whole game ? That is ludicrous when your quarterback is struggling and you need to inject life into the offense . In addition , this Dolphin defense was one of the worst in the league against the run coming into the game . Bottom line , Todd Haley blew it in this game . His gameplan was a joke . On the other side of the coin , this Steeler defense is years , yes years , away from being a top caliber defense . Our defensive line is average at best and the linebackers with the exception of Harrison are not even NFL caliber .The secondary is young , inexperienced and a revolving door of people coming and going with injuries . At the end of the day the Tomlin trend of playing down to lesser opponents rears its ugly head again . This team was flat and unprepared from the opening kickoff and it showed . They were looking down the road instead of looking at today . In the end , it wont matter . The Patriots will beat this Steeler team by at least two touchdowns next week . You can write it down . If we cant slow down Carson Wentz and Ryan Tannehill , what are we going to do with Tom Brady ? Not only that , but Legarret Blount is sitting back licking his chops after seeing the Steeler defense allow a 200 yard rusher against the hapless Dolphins . At the end of the day ,at some point , Mike Tomlin has to be held accountable . There is to much talent on this team to have these types of performances . Its unacceptable and it continues to happen year after year . The time for looking the other way and giving Tomlin a pass is over . Talk is cheap and results are the only thing that matters in the NFL .
Jay
October 16, 2016 at 8:44 pm
I agree Dave but he will remain teflon as usual. Like Nixon with watergate: getting caught each week and someone else getting blamed! Kt seems like they (they being the coaches and the players) feel like they can just show up and win by virtue of stepping on the field. The truth is, it simply looks li,e they continue use to do what they do, what works for them, AS IF OTHER TEAMS DON’T SEE THAT AND PREPARE FOR IT. I watch a little bit of New England and they’re always changing up the things they do to,stay ahead of the curve. I mean yeah, they have their base stuff they do but they always seem to be,prepared to counter whatever the other team seems to have for them based on film study. We don’t. Plain and simple. If they win next week against New England it will be wasted because of today. In fact, it won’t mean a hill of beans to me if they do…ultimately until Tomlin and staff are shown the door, we are a pretend competitor. I just unfriended like three people on Facebook who are fellow Steelers fans just for being fans!
Jay
October 16, 2016 at 9:00 pm
By the way, my personal assessment of the defensive side of the ball not just today but overall:
Hayward: overrated- picked Ins first round and simply occupies blockers, makes the occasional sack, could’ve gotten someone to do that in later rounds;
Tuitt: I keep hearing how good he’s gonna or supposed to be…still waiting;
Hargrove: sucks;
McCullers: see Hargrove;
Jarvis Jones: half decent against the edge, no pressure on QB, again, could’ve gotten someone to fit that bill in later rounds;
Timmons: if he were a large comforter he couldn’t cover a small bed;
Shazier: made of glass;
Vince Williams: imactually do like this guy but now he it with injury;
Harrison: obviously too old;
Moats: friendly, unintimidating, should stick to radio talk with the other two,blowhards;
Chickillo: potential but failed to wrap up on a tackle against dolphins;
Cockrell: gives more cushion than expensive shock absorbers;
Gay: see cockrell;
Burns: in over his head as of yet
Mitchell: can’t cover but can hit, can’t wrap up;
Golden: hits well I guess;
Sean Davis: potential
Yeah, super bowl, here we come!
BB
October 16, 2016 at 10:24 pm
Was there actually a football game played today? All I saw was The Ed Hockuli Show, because you know that it is all about him and calling out the wrong penalties