PITTSBURGH — The blood poured from Aaron Rodgers’ nose as he writhed in pain on the turf.
Already playing with a cast on his fractured left wrist, the Steelers’ starting quarterback had just absorbed a blind-side hit from Bills edge rusher Joey Bosa. Bosa drove Rodgers into the turf head-first and dislodged the football. Defensive back Christian Benford scooped it and raced 17 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.
By the time Rodgers reemerged from the medical tent, a game the Steelers led 7-6 at halftime was unraveling. Backup quarterback Mason Rudolph had thrown an interception and the Bills marched down the field on another run-heavy drive to extend their lead to two possessions mid-way through in the third quarter.
It only got uglier — and louder. At one point, when the video board faded to black, fans responded by booing the defensive anthem “Renegade.” Later, a smattering of fans broke out into an audible “Fire Tomlin” chant.
“Man, I share their frustration tonight,” Tomlin said when asked about the chant. “We didn’t do enough. That’s just the reality of it.”
After the booing faded to silence and the “Fire Tomlin” chants subsided, Rodgers sat at a podium in the bowels of Acrisure Stadium, trying to unpack a 26-7 loss. A large gash stretched across the bridge of his swollen nose. A bruise was beginning to form on the tip.
The sight was an apt metaphor for the current state of a Steelers team that’s been battered and bloodied in recent weeks. Once 4-1 and in control of the AFC North, the Steelers have now lost five of their last seven games. Sunday’s loss to an undermanned and flawed Bills team is a low-water mark in so may ways. Offensively, the Steelers managed just 90 yards through three quarters and 166 yards overall. Collectively, they converted just 3-of-9 third down opportunities. Individually, Rodgers completed only 10 of 21 passes and fumbled.
Defensively, it was even worse. T.J. Watt put it well when he called it an “ass-kicking in all areas.” The Bills, who were missing both of their starting tackles, consistently lined up in run-heavy formations and bullied the Steelers with the same run concepts over and over, dominating nearly 42 minutes of possession time. Pittsburgh never had an answer, specially to the Duo runs that double-team interior defensive linemen. The Steelers surrendered 249 rushing yards, the most ever by an opponent at Acrisure Stadium.
“I’ve never seen a team run the same play as much as they ran it and have as much success as they had,” Watt said. “I’m out of words for it.”
Perhaps the most surprising thing during this skid is that the Steelers aren’t out of the playoff picture. The Steelers and Ravens are both 6-6, with Baltimore holding the division lead due to tiebreakers. With a head-to-head matchup on the horizon next Sunday and a second meeting waiting at the end of the season, the Steelers very much control their own destiny.
At least technically they do. Realistically?
In an AFC that lacks many (if any) true contenders, no one would accuse the Steelers of being one. In their current state, the Steelers look nothing like a playoff team. Even if they can find a way to win the AFC North, does anything over the last seven weeks suggest this will be the team that can win its first playoff game since January 2017?
“We need to figure something out,” Watt said. “Because clearly, what’s been going on hasn’t been working effectively. To not be able to stack wins in the National Football League is not a winning formula.”
Watt keeps making statements like this. Nothing is changing. The warts aren’t being eradicated. They’re only growing.
Early in the year, the Steelers found a way to work around an inexperienced offensive line, inconsistent running game and aging quarterback by relying on a quick, precision passing game and yards after the catch. However, the inability to attack downfield has made third-and-long situations nearly impossible to convert. The lack of a true WR2 has become more glaring each week, as receivers struggle to create separation and often aren’t on the same page as their quarterback. The puzzling personnel usage and roster construction has made players such as tight end Pat Freiermuth afterthoughts, even though the Steelers are paying Freiermuth like he’s a top-10 player at his position.
Additionally, over his last three games, Rodgers himself has begun to show signs of regressing. Through his first nine outings, he posted a passer rating of 103.1, completed 68.7 percent of his passes, threw 17 touchdowns against five INTs and put up an EPA/attempt of 0.13. In his last 10 quarters — which includes the Week 10 loss to the Chargers, the first half in Week 11 against the Bengals and Sunday against the Bills — Rodgers’ passer rating has dipped to 67.6. He’s completed 52.2 percent of his passes and produced an EPA per attempt of negative 0.18, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The defense has been more problematic. The Steelers are too reliant on takeaways. In a world where expectations should be tied to compensation, it’s worth mentioning yet again that Pittsburgh is committing more than $160 million of its salary cap to the defense — that’s nearly $25 million more than anyone else, according to Over The Cap. This group simply hasn’t justified the investment.
The Steelers’ flawed approach to roster construction was underscored even before the first snap on Sunday, when veteran corner Darius Slay was made a healthy scratch just months after the Steelers signed him to a one-year, $10 million deal. At the time, the Steelers believed they had a secondary capable of matching up in man coverage against anyone in the league. Just a few weeks later, Slay has slid so far down the depth chart he’s been passed by former undrafted free agent James Pierre and recent addition Asante Samuel Jr.
As troubling as the performance has been recently, none of it is especially surprising. The recent results mirror seasons past. A franchise that’s been stuck in football purgatory — good enough to finish with a winning record but never good enough to make noise in the playoffs — is showing too many signs that the same story is going to repeat itself. The “Fire Tomlin” chants that rained down on Sunday weren’t simply the result of seven weeks of frustration, they’re the product of eight-plus years without a playoff win and another team that seems to be headed down the same path.
“I believe in the coaching staff,” Rodgers said. “I believe in Mike Tomlin. That’s why I came here. Players need to take accountability. Myself included. And I will. I will continue to. I’ve got to play better.
“But there’s 11 starters on offense, 11 on defense — plus (more) with the personnel groupings that we run. We’ve got to have a Monday-to-Saturday that we can really be proud of, our best Monday-to-Saturday, and go out and play our best game and take control of the division.”