Not only did the Steelers suffer their first loss of the season Sunday at Philadelphia, but the 34-3 margin was their most lopsided defeat since 1989.
Carson Wentz and the Eagles (3-0) might just be for real, and as humiliating as this was for the Steelers (2-1), it’s only one loss. They need to bounce back, though, and there were some flaws that showed Sunday that need to be corrected.
If not, all the offseason hype about the Steelers being Super Bowl contenders could turn out to be a lot of hot air.
Ben Roethlisberger’s lack of accuracy
For the second straight week, Ben Roethlisberger barely completed more than half of his passes.
The rain in Week 2 against the Bengals might have contributed to his 19-for-37 line that included two interceptions. On Sunday, however, there wasn’t a drop of precipitation as Roethlisberger completed just 24 of 44 passes with no touchdowns and an interception. That’s 51.4 percent last week and 54.6 percent Sunday. For the season, Roethlisberger has completed 59.3 percent of his passes. He hasn’t completed less than 60 percent of his passes in a season since 2008, and even then he completed 59.9 percent.
A lot of Roethlisberger’s passes don’t seem on the mark, and with four interceptions this season he’s on pace to throw 21. That would be the most he’s thrown since he threw 23 in 2006. The Steelers missed the playoffs that year and it would be hard for them to make the playoffs this year if Roethlisberger doesn’t curb the interceptions.
Missing Martavis Bryant and Heath Miller
Roethlisberger’s lackluster completion percentage isn’t entirely his fault. Part of it could be route-running by his receivers and his stats Sunday would have looked better if it weren’t for three drops by Markus Wheaton.
Wheaton missed the first two games of the season with a shoulder injury and was rusty in his return. The first of his drops Sunday was the most costly. Roethlisberger threw a potential touchdown pass right between his numbers, but he couldn’t hold on. The Steelers settled for a field goal attempt on that first drive of the game, but it was blocked. Who knows how differently the game would have turned out if Wheaton had made that touchdown catch.
If you guys don’t understand why I constantly say that Markus Wheaton is bad, just watch today’s game. He’s not good.
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) September 25, 2016
The Steelers really could have used the Wheaton who has made 97 catches over the last two years, because Roethlisberger’s targets currently consist of Antonio Brown and a bunch of unproven players. One of them, Eli Rogers, went down with an injury. That forced the Steelers to turn to Wheaton more than they probably wanted to. Sammie Coates’ three catches Sunday were a career high. He’s shown the potential to be a deep threat, but he doesn’t provide a lot of volume.
Ladarius Green was signed in free agency to replace the retired Heath Miller at tight end. But he hasn’t practiced yet and is on the physically unable to perform list. The Steelers have turned to second-year tight end Jesse James, who caught just two passes in Philadelphia Sunday.
Steelers O struggled mightily when not targeting Brown. Roethlisberger 12-of-18 for 140 to Brown, 12-of-26 for 117 yards and INT to others
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 26, 2016
It appears Roethlisberger misses Miller’s reliable hands as well as Martavis Bryant, who is suspended for the year under the league’s drug policy. Bryant could scare a defense. Rogers, Coates and Wheaton? Not so much. But if that trio doesn’t mature quickly, opposing defenses will bracket Brown and a Steelers offense that hoped to average 30 points a game this season will find itself stuck in the mud.
Lack of a pass rush
The Steelers have just one sack after three games. If the Falcons get one sack Monday night against the Saints, the Steelers will be last in the league in that category.
They haven’t always been trying to get sacks. They rushed just three guys most of the time in their 38-16, Week 1 win over the Redskins. But at some point, they’re going to have to get to the quarterback with that four-man rush.
If they don’t, what happened Sunday will happen more as the season goes on. The unsacked Carson Wentz completed 23 of 31 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns. He threw six of those passes to Darren Sproles for 128 yards and a touchdown. The TD went for 73 yards as Sproles broke free and weaved his way through the Steelers defense.
Wentz was hit only three times, twice by 38-year old James Harrison. He can’t play forever, and the Steelers don’t have any outside linebackers who are legitimate pass-rushing threats. Jarvis Jones, the Steelers’ first-round draft pick in 2013, has five sacks in his career. Bud Dupree, last year’s first-round pick, showed flashes with four sacks in 2015 but is on injured reserve this year.
It didn’t help Sunday that safeties Robert Golden and Mike Mitchell and inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons all were injured and inside linebacker Ryan Shazier was playing hurt. But the Steelers’ inability to get to the quarterback was a problem before the game and they need to find a way to fix it.
