Steelers offense puts up another dud performance in loss vs. Bills

The Steelers put up another pitiful offensive performance in Week 14. Here what went wrong in their loss to the Bills.

Heading into their Week 14 matchup against the Buffalo Bills, the offense was the big question for the Steelers. In recent games against Baltimore and Washington, receivers struggled to catch the ball, the run game couldn’t move an inch, and Ben Roethlisberger was off the mark. Unfortunately, that didn’t change on Sunday night. Pittsburgh lost their second consecutive game by a score of 15-26.

The story in the first half is becoming a trend with this team. As usual, the Steelers looked terrific defensively. Despite being down both of their starting linebackers, they made Josh Allen look like Mason Rudolph early in the game. By the end of the first half, Allen was just 10 of 23 for 76 yards (3.3 yards per attempt) with no touchdowns and an interception. Pittsburgh was brilliant shutting down Buffalo’s offense.

However, the offensive struggles continue for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Diontae Johnson kicked things off with a pair of drops before finally taking a seat on the bench early in the first half. But he was hardly the only player struggling. The rushing attack still looked very pedestrian – averaging just 2.9 yards per carry on 14 first-half attempts – while Ben Roethlisberger was less than stellar.

Though Ben did throw a nice touchdown strike to James Washington in the second quarter, he finished the half just 11 of 22 for 103 yards (4.7 yards per attempt) with a touchdown and a pick. This unit really struggled to do much of anything in the first two quarters.

The second half, however, was even worse. The defense came out flat in the third quarter and allowed 14 before the fourth. After getting themselves into a hole, we knew it would be hard for them to climb out.

When it looked like Pittsburgh’s offense might have a chance to come back in this contest after a drive that finished with a touchdown to JuJu Smith-Schuster, they proved to be a letdown when they were needed most, and Pittsburgh managed just 8 points in the entire second half.

What went wrong for the Steelers?

Even with their struggles at times in the second half, it’s really hard to point the finger at the defense in this contest. Pittsburgh was shorthanded at linebacker in addition to missing Joe Haden on the outside, and it showed at times. Still, I thought this unit did a pretty good job considering. The offense is where the problem lies, and there is plenty of blame to be passed around.

The Steelers still couldn’t run the ball, and their quick passing game wasn’t fooling Buffalo. When Ben was asked to pass the ball down the field, it wasn’t pretty. He finished with just 187 yards and 2 touchdowns as well as 2 interceptions (65.9 passer rating).

After a performance like this, fans are no doubt starting to lose hope in Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl chances this year, and we just have to wonder: Does Ben Roethlisberger still have enough left in the tank to make one more run at a championship? It’s hard to justify that based on his performance in Week 14 against the Bills.