Did Steelers get exposed in the win against the Titans?

The Steelers offense sputtered in the second half against the Titans

When the Steelers won the toss and elected to receive, my son and I immediately looked at each other with puzzlement.  We usually defer, but in this case, it worked out as we marched down the field and scored a TD on the opening drive.

According to NFL.com, that opening drive took up 9 minutes and 18 seconds of the first quarter.  The second drive took up 7 minutes and 5 seconds and resulted in another TD.  We took up essentially the entire first quarter to go up 14-0.  Things were looking pretty good on offense.

The second quarter saw the lead grow to 24-7.  With a little bit of time left, we got the ball back after a mishandled snap by the Titans punter.  The ball was at the Titans 32-yard line.  Rather than try a 49 yard FG, we were called for a false start.  The next play resulted in an INT, one of three INTs thrown by Ben Roethlisberger, our franchise QB.

I’m not blaming ‘Big Ben’ for those INTs as he has been playing at a ‘high level’ all season, but after the first INT, it just seemed that the offense was ‘snakebitten’ afterward, managing only three points on the second half.

Let’s recap how we fared on defense.