TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, November 19, 2007
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tries to escape from the New York Jets pass rush in the first half of their football game at Giants Stadium, Nov. 18, 2007.
Christopher Horner/TRIBUNE-REVIEW
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.: The Steelers came to Giants Stadium with the second-best record in the AFC and designs on continuing to establish themselves as Super Bowl hopefuls.
They left having exposed a fatal flaw.
They can't beat a non-AFC North Division team on the road.
They've tried three times now against three teams with less-than-winning records (5-5 Arizona, 4-5 Denver and the now 2-8 New York Jets).
They're 0 for 3, which constitutes a trend.
It's a different story at Heinz Field and when they visit Cleveland, Cincinnati and presumably, Baltimore, familiarity apparently meaning everything in such instances.
But Sunday afternoon the Steelers took on a team that had lost eight times in nine tries on merit, somehow managed to come from ahead in the fourth quarter and lose in overtime, 19-16.
That's the compelling problem confronting Mike Tomlin and his staff as the Steelers attempt to regroup and get ready for still-winless Miami at home.
The specifics of their latest head-scratcher, from pass protection to special teams to missed tackles to being out-physicaled, are merely symptoms.
Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens eludes Steelers linebacker James Harrison for a long gain during the fourth quarter Sunday, November 18, 2007 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Jets won, 19-16, in overtime.
Christopher Horner/TRIBUNE-REVIEW
The big-picture issue involves how a team as statistically decorated and as seemingly well-prepared as the Steelers can so consistently find itself groping for its game on foreign soil.
"I'm sick of going out in these games and taking punches," defensive end Brett Keisel said after the team's inexplicable performance against the Jets. "I want us to go out and start punching.
"I'm sick of coming out on the road and 'Ohhhhhhh, here we are on our heels,' and then we gotta fight back. That's not the way we need to play if we want to be a playoff team."
Based on the way the AFC North has shaped up, the Steelers can probably win their final three home games only and still win the division, no matter what happens Dec. 30 at Baltimore.
But if they want to achieve anything once they reach the postseason -- and for the Steelers, achieving something in the playoffs constitutes reaching the AFC Championship Game, at the very least -- they're going to have to figure out why whatever it is that makes them special winds up elsewhere whenever they land in Arizona, Colorado or the swamps of Jersey.
When that happens, the Steelers aren't good enough to beat 1-8.
"Hopefully, that'll get addressed (today)," Keisel said.
In Arizona, the Steelers jumped to a 7-0 lead but failed to build upon it.
In Denver, they did the same.
Against the Jets, the variation on the theme was that it was 10-0 almost before the Steelers had broken a sweat.
Jets running back Thomas Jones avoids Steelers defenders Brett Keisel (99) and Travis Kirschke (90) in the second quarter as he rushes for 117 yards at Giants Stadium, Nov. 18, 2007.
Chaz Palla/TRIBUNE-REVIEW
This time, they recovered well enough to be in possession of the ball and the lead with less than five minutes remaining and couldn't finish.
For the Steelers, that's as uncharacteristic as it is unsettling.
The great teams pride themselves on putting people away, on overcoming their given shortcomings from week to week and on winning when they're at less than their best, if that's what's required.
The Steelers collapsed offensively, defensively and on special teams almost immediately after stopping the Jets on fourth-and-five from the Steelers' 41 with 4:15 to play.
They're that far from great and have one less week to do something about it.
Mike Prisuta is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at mprisuta@tribweb.com or 412-320-7923.
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