The Steelers Are Developing A Bad Habit

Ben Fumbles

      The Pittsburgh Steelers are getting into the habit of losing. Five turnovers, two of them returned for touchdowns, doomed the Steelers to a 40-23 loss to the Chicago Bears. The 0-3 Steelers will head to Europe and play against the 0-3 Minnesota Vikings to try to avoid becoming the franchise's first team in 45 years to lose their first four games.

       "We have to do a better job taking care of the football, period," said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, whose team has lost nine turnovers in three games this season and the defense hasn't gotten one turnover. It is the first time the Pittsburgh Steelers have lost their first three games since 2000. It was nice to see Heath Miller back in action.

        The 0-3 start, never experienced by any of them here, had some players groping for ways to describe it. "It's a deep hole," Roethlisberger said. "It's getting deeper, but we're not going to quit." "We need to make something happen here quickly," defensive captain Ryan Clark said. "It's hard, it's frustrating, it's all those words," said another defensive captain, Brett Keisel. "This team is not going to lay down and roll over."

       Although Ben Roethlisberger completed 26 of 41 for 406 yards and Antonio Brown caught nine passes for a career-high 196 yards and two touchdown, the turnovers killed them. Tomlin has a big job ahead of him, perhaps his biggest since taking the job in 2007. Part of that is to keep his winless team focused on their jobs."I'm not going to pat them on the back for sticking together, for continuing to work or for being mentally tough," Tomlin said. "I expect them to, and that's what I just told them in there."

Pittsburgh Steelers - Different Game Same Result

Ben Roethlisberger frustrated in Steelers loss to Bengals

      The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2002, done in by another game of self-destruction on offense. Pittsburgh struggled on offense for the second consecutive week, and was limited to just 278 total yards as they lost their opening two games. The Steelers had two turnovers in the Red Zone and failed to get a first down on seven of their 12 possessions."There's not a lot of positives going on right now," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "We can't start doubting each other. Right now, there's a general feeling of being upset.

      The Bengals quarterback, Andy Dalton attempted 32 passes in the first half as the Cincinnati Bengals ran the ball just 10 times for 53 yards. Cincinnati ran the ball 24 times in the second half to get the lead and then ran time off the clock. The Bengals finished the game with 407 total yards.  Giovani Bernard, Cincinnati's shifty young running back, earned the first score of his career on a seven-yard run in the first quarter then broke a 10-10 tie in the third on a 27-yard reception that helped the Bengals (1-1) to a share of the lead in the AFC North.

The Pittsburgh Steelers Have Nothing For The Titans

Titans make 2 point blunder on the kickoff

     The Steelers had nothnig Sunday for the Titans, but the Titans had a gift for Pittsburgh to start the game. The Tennessee Titans had the ugliest start to the season you’ll ever see on Sunday in Pittsburgh, as returner Darius Reynaud picked up the opening kickoff at the 1-yard line and then kneeled into the end zone for a safety. But after that, it was the Steelers who were ugly.
Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead on Reynaud’s bonehead play, but it was all Titans from then on, as the Steelers’ offense was horrendous and the Titans won 16-9.

      The Pittsburgh Steelers lost center Maurkice Pouncey to an early knee injury, and their offense was terrible all game. Ben Roethlisberger threw for just 191 yards on 21-of-33 passing, and his first touchdown pass didn’t come until late in the fourth quarter, when the game was all but over.
Tennessee’s offense wasn’t anything to write home about, either: Jake Locker went 11-for-20 for 125 yards, while Chris Johnson picked up just 70 yards on 25 carries. But the Titans had no interceptions and no fumbles, while the Steelers had one of each, and Tennessee did enough to win an ugly game.
For the Titans, this win wasn’t particularly impressive, but they’ll gladly take a 1-0 start to the season. The Steelers need to fix their offense in a hurry.