Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Upon Further Review: The Steelers

By Jamison Hensley
ESPN
AFC North Blog
December 17, 2012


Revisiting the Pittsburgh Steelers' 27-24 overtime loss at the Dallas Cowboys:

The Steelers' depleted secondary was picked on by Tony Romo and the Cowboys.
Romo threw 69 percent of his passes outside the painted numbers on the field, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He completed 21-of-29 (72.4 percent) passes on such throws for 234 yards a touchdown.

The Steelers were without starter Ike Taylor (ankle) for the second consecutive game. Cortez Allen, who replaced Taylor a week ago, was out Sunday with a hip injury. That forced Josh Victorian, who wasn't on the active roster at the start of the month, into the starting lineup and Robert Golden to play nickel back.

It just got worse in the fourth quarter when Keenan Lewis aggravated a hip injury and benchedCurtis Brown was back on the field. In the two games without Taylor, the Steelers' defense has allowed four touchdowns outside the numbers.

The Steelers had held teams under 300 total yards in the previous eight games. On Sunday, Romo eclipsed that number himself, throwing for 341 yards.

STAT THAT STICKS: 18 -- Turnovers by the Steelers over the past five weeks, the most in the NFL. Pittsburgh committed two critical ones Sunday: Antonio Brown's fumble in the fourth quarter and Ben Roethlisberger's interception in overtime.

OVERHEARD: "We allowed them to remain in the game, and we lost the game because of it. We had a lead, we had a punt return. It was going to be good field position. We put the ball on the ground." Coach Mike Tomlin on Brown's fumble

WHAT'S NEXT: The Steelers (7-7) play the Bengals (8-6) at home. Pittsburgh hasn't won a home game since beating the Chiefs in overtime on Nov. 12.

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