I’m not even sure where to start. I thought the Steelers were done losing embarrassing games, but alas, it happened again. Its hard to point fingers because there is a lot of blame to go around. The score may give the appearance that this game was close, but the Ravens were in control all day.

We’ll have more in-depth breakdowns later in the week, but here are my immediate thoughts following the loss.

Offense

It’s crazy how so many thought this offense would be bailing out the defense all year. It was the complete opposite today. The offense simple did not function for the majority of the game, minus the late surge at the end.

Let’s start with Ben Roethlisberger. It was was a very rough game for our quarterback. For the majority of the game he played like he should be a Cleveland Brown, which was really painful to witness. It seemed like his knee was still bothering him. Early on he wasn’t throwing often, but when he did his reads were bad and he tended to miss his target. Ben was able to rally at the end of the game, throwing a touchdown to Antonio Brown and even rushing for a touchdown, but it wasn’t enough. I hate blaming a loss on Ben, but a large portion of the blame goes on him.

Le’Veon Bell tried his best, but there wasn’t much he could do today. Because of Ben’s inability to throw for the majority of the game, the Ravens stacked the box all day. Bell’s a great player, but there’s not much he can do when there were constantly 7-8 Ravens coming at him.

I’m not sure what to say about our receivers. Many times they got open, but Ben couldn’t get the ball to them. Their play certainly wasn’t perfect though. The most notable play between all of the receivers is without a doubt Sammie Coates’ dropped touchdown in the endzone. The ball may have been a little high, but there’s no excuse for Coates not bringing that ball down. Coates inconsistency continues to be an issue.

Defense

The Steelers defense actually played well today. The presence of Ryan Shazier and Cam Heyward appeared to have made an impact.

Shazier had a great game. He was flying around the field all day and was able to force a fumble early on. He can be one of the best linebackers in the league if he can stay healthy.

Artie Burns’ day was extremely mixed. Early on it appeared this would be his breakout game, but as the time went on he began showing his weaknesses. It appeared Joe Flacco was targeting Burns (with success) on their final drive of the first half. Burns has showed that he plays hard and deserved to be our first round pick, but I think it’s still too early for him to be starting. He managed to get his first career interception, but the offense wasted it with a 3-and-out drive.

As a whole I’m happy with how our defense played. Hopefully Bud Dupree returns next week and is able to reinvigorate our pass rush. I feel comfortable saying the arrow is pointing up for our defense.

Special Teams

Normally I praise the Steelers special team unit, but not today.

The unit gave up a touchdown on a blocked punt that was essentially a nail in the coffin. When the offense is struggling and the defense is holding up relatively well, these types of mistakes cannot be afforded.

Chris Boswell’s onside kick… ugh. The Steelers sometimes like to be cute with trick plays, but rarely do they ever work. I wasn’t really expecting the Steelers to successfully convert the onside kick, but it’s unfortunate that the unit didn’t even have a chance to try due to Boswell’s whiff.

Final Thoughts

These types of losses are always tough. I love our coaching stuff, but when the Steelers lose like this it’s hard not to question them.

Did Tomlin not prepare this team well enough? Did Todd Haley call poor plays?

These are questions I try to avoid since I’m simply a guy on a couch and not an NFL coach, but it’s hard not to think about this stuff after a tough loss.

I still haven’t given up on this team. It’s difficult to pinpoint their issues, whether it be health, the coaching staff, or if its simply players not playing well. Regarldess, this team is clearly out of sync. Wherever the problem lies, this team needs to figure it out and fix it.