Not many predicted an 0-3 start to the season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that is what five turnovers and a defense incapable of making a big play will get you.
The Steelers fell behind early Sunday night to the Chicago Bears and fought back to pull within four points in the second half, but turnovers doomed the offense and the defense once again couldn’t get off the field on third down.
Add all of that up and you get a 40-23 loss with no end in sight to the Steelers’ problems.
With that being said, let’s take a look at home the Steelers graded out after yet another disappointing loss.
Quarterback: On the surface Ben Roethlisberger had a pretty good game, throwing for 406 yards, two nice touchdowns to Antonio Brown and had a 104.8 rating. But four turnovers, two returned for touchdowns, just killed the team. Big Ben is playing decent football and the Steelers wouldn’t have been in the game without him, but he deserves his share of criticism as well. Grade: C
Running Backs: The Steelers rushed for a season-high 80 yards, 73 of which came from the running backs. But Felix Jones had a costly fumble and other than a 25-yard run from Jonathan Dwyer in the first half, once again the backs didn’t do much. Hopefully there is help right around the corner as there is a chance rookie Le’Veon Bell could make his debut next week. Grade: D
Wide Receivers: Brown stepped up and delivered a huge performance with nine catches for 196 yards and a pair of scores, but they didn’t get much from Emmanuel Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery. Rookie Markus Wheaton didn’t see the field much after a big third down drop, but Heath Miller returned and had four catches. Overall not a bad night from the receiving core. Grade: B+
Offensive Line: Another horrible night for the men up front. They did rush for more yards than they have all season, but 80 yards rushing is nothing to brag about. More importantly, Roethlisberger took another beating and was under pressure all night long. Three of the turnovers were the direct result of too much pressure. The offensive line can’t pick up blitzes up the middle and tackles Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams were beaten all night long. It’s never a good sign when both tackles are benched for a seventh-round pick in Kelvin Beachum, but that’s the case with this line. Grade: F
Defensive Line: The Bears rushed for 102 yards on 22 carries and while Brett Keisel and Cam Heyward got a little bit of pressure on Jay Cutler, it didn’t matter much as Cutler had it easy for most of the night. The most disturbing part is that Steve McLendon got pushed around big time for the third straight game. Grade: D+
Linebackers: LaMarr Woodley got to Cutler once and the outside backers tried to get to the quarterback, but were unsuccessful all night. Rookie Vince Williams played pretty well despite vacating his spot on Forte’s 55-yard run in the first quarter and looks to be the starter going forward. Lawrence Timmons also played pretty well leading the team with nine tackles (seven solo). Grade: C
Secondary: Ike Taylor and William Gay were pretty solid until late as Taylor kept Brandon Marshall in check until his 41-yard catch late, but that took a perfect throw from Cutler. Ryan Clark missed a tackle on Forte’s big run which ultimately proved costly. However still no turnovers from this defense as the secondary has to find ways to take the football away. Getting off the field on third down is starting to become a bad trend as well as the Bears converted three big third-down conversions late in the game. Grade: C-
Special Teams: A solid effort from the special teams unit. They held Devin Hester in check and kicker Shaun Suisham was his usual accurate self in making three field goals. Punter Zoltan Mesko turned in yet another inconsistent performance, which isn’t good news. Grade: C+
Coaching: Five turnovers from the offense. Nothing from the defense. What exactly is this team’s identity? Not even the coaching staff knows. Grade: F
Photo Credit: Getty Images
