Pittsburgh Steelers: Sometimes It Is The Fault Of Our Stars

Circumstances were aligned perfectly.

After a rejuvenating bye week, the Pittsburgh Steelers played host to a team coming off a Monday nighter against Baltimore.

The Steelers were healthier than they had been in weeks. And two of their prominent defensive starters were back in the starting lineup. One of which is their future Hall of Fame safety, Troy Polamalu.

Instead of seizing the day, they played like they were missing a player in the secondary, and lacked the energy to keep pace with the New Orleans Saints.

They granted Drew Brees an extremely efficient afternoon with 257 yards and a season high five touchdowns. He was part of the Kenny Stills “Coming Out Party,” a career-best 169-yard game. The duo outplayed the Steelers corners, gouging them for a 69-yard touchdown and a 44-yard reception that set up Mark Ingram for the Saints third score.

Ingram also had a stellar afternoon on the ground. He rocked the Steelers defense for 122 yards, which was made even worse by the loss of Brett Keisel. It was not a good night for the Steelers defense or legends.

The misery seemed to hang like voodoo on the Steelers sideline.

More from Ben Roethlisberger

• Without Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers Season is on the Brink of Disaster
• Pittsburgh Steelers: Grades for week 6 win over Kansas City
• Pittsburgh Steelers: Fantasy breakdown for Week 6 game at Kansas City
• Pittsburgh Steelers: Is Antonio Brown tantrum a distraction?
• Steelers: Quarterback Breakdown, Grades

Coach Mike Tomlin had two big “time” blunders which essentially left the Steelers a field goal out of a first-place tie with the Cincinnati Bengals.

As the first half came to a close, they wasted valuable seconds. Brees and Company were able to drain over four minutes of clock, leaving just 30 seconds for the Steelers to get into field-goal range.

Shaun Suisham missed the 54-yarder when Mr. Dependable Greg Warren, skipped the snap to the holder. Brad Wing miraculously set it straight just in time to watch it fizzle in front of the goal post.

Similar to the Steelers offense in the third quarter.

The Saints opening second half possession was quickly shut down by Cameron Heyward and Sean Spence. But it took only two plays for the Steelers offense to swat away the positive. Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan bulldozed over Mike Adams for a tip-ball interception. The Saints scored in 43 seconds and went up, 21-6.

The Steelers then spent seven minutes adding seven points.

Lack of time clock smarts forced the productive first-half run game to be shelved for the last quarter and a half. Ben Roethlisberger ended up with 58 pass attempts, the most in his career. His 435-yard passing performance sounds impressive until you know two of those throws were life-killing interceptions.  Roethlisberger was out of sync until the fourth quarter but he had some help.

Martavis Bryant dropped another touchdown. Darrius Heyward-Bey and Roethlisberger ran an awkward goal line play that resulted in an interception by Kenny Vaccaro.  Maybe it’s because Ben doesn’t practice against a ball-hawking free safety. Mike Mitchell truly has the skills, but hope is dwindling just like the Steelers playoff chances.

This game was a keeper for stars like Cameron Heyward, Lawrence Timmons, Heath Miller, Antonio Brown, and Le’Veon Bell. Everybody else, including the coaching staff, needs to thank their lucky stars the Browns and Ravens were also losers.