Let me charge out of the gates with this statement: This article is not making excuses for the Steelers' postseason-less 2018-19 run.
When a team goes 7-2-1 in its first 10 games then wins only two more from there, it deserves to watch from the sidelines. The Steelers did not finish what they started last season in any regard. As a unit, the team had far more problems than the five entries on my list.
But, friends and family ... there was some wackiness along the way. It's undeniable. The Steelers ranked fourth in passing offense, fourth in total offense, sixth in rushing defense, 10th in passing defense and sixth in total defense.
I'm no mathematician, and stats only tell part of a story, but a team with top-10 numbers in key categories like those should probably make the postseason.
The Steelers didn't. They sat on their helmets in Week 17 at Heinz Field after defeating the Bengals, praying for the Browns to upset the Ravens to give them a chance at another playoff run. The Ravens prevailed, 26-24, and that was that.
Let's revisit some of the chaos from 2018 that contributed to the Steelers' early exit:
5. Chris. Boswell.
We're coming in hot. I can't choose just one kick, because that would ignore the fact Chris Boswell missed seven of his 20 attempts. That was both his lowest number of attempts since taking over in 2015, and his highest number of misses. His 65 percent conversion rate fell far below his previous career-worst of 84 percent in 2016.
That 2016 figure was bad.
His 2018 campaign was atrocious.
Add in five missed extra points — he'd missed three total in his career to last season — and you get the picture.
“If I had to point to a couple of things that I think were problems that may have cost us that opportunity, I think No. 1 was a lack of even an average kicking game,” team president Art Rooney II said at the end of the season. “(For) somewhat inexplicable reasons our kicker went from one of the best in the league to one of the worst in the league, and so games that we won close last year, we didn’t win close this year.”
He's right. But no single Boswell moment from 2018 resonates like this one:
Is now a bad time to remind everyone that this little bit of perfection set up that potential game-tying kick from Boswell?
Yeah, probably a bad time. You're right.
The Steelers fell to 7-5-1 after this 24-21 loss.
Read Lolley's 10 thoughts from Oakland following that game.
4. Grimble's gamble
Look, I get this one. It's a boneheaded decision worsened through the magic of hindsight, but I truly get what Xavier Grimble was thinking here.
He's listed at 6-foot-4, 260 pounds, and as somebody who has seen him up close and personal several times at Steelers practices and camp activities, I can confidently say those numbers are on the low end. Grimble is a monster.
So, running with full momentum, Grimble probably didn't care who was coming at him. If they collide, he's winning that battle 100 times out of 100.
... Make that 99 out of 100.
What Grimble didn't expect was 6-foot-1, 192-pound safety Will Parks rising to the occasion, meeting him up high at the goal line and separating both the ball and, it appeared, his consciousness from the play.
Had Grimble punched that in, the Steelers take a 10-0 lead and probably don't lose, 24-17, in Denver. That loss kicked off a three-game skid that moved the Steelers from 7-2-1 to 7-5-1 in a hurry.
The tone of the season changed against the Broncos, and this one was weird beyond Grimble's decision.
Just read Dejan Kovacevic's column from Denver if you don't believe me.
3. You can't do that
Just watch:
I think even Ravens, Bengals and Browns fans would agree on this one. That's a false start. That play — and the seven points that came with it — should've been killed from the jump. Of course, that was first and 10, and the Chargers were driving. They might've scored anyway. But we don't know that for sure.
We do know the officials blew that one.
The Chargers went on to win, 33-31, dropping the Steelers to 7-4-1 in the process.
2. Phantom PI
I'll just leave this here:
Now that you've had a day to recover...
Your thoughts on this? pic.twitter.com/5Z4v9n35Lz
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPghSports) January 21, 2019
Unlike the Chargers' false start above, we do know what would've happened if the officials didn't blow this call. This came on fourth and 1, so the Steelers would've taken over on downs. Easy.
Instead, Joe Haden was called for pass interference and Mark Ingram punched it in from the 1 on the very next play.
Then, in a closer but still debatable call, Haden was called again for pass interference with two minutes left in the game. And again it happened on fourth down. And again the Saints went on to score a touchdown:
That's 14 points off pass interference penalties for those keeping track at home. The Steelers lost, 31-28, in New Orleans and fell to 8-6-1.
DK perfectly analyzed this one and all its craziness from New Orleans.
1. Just ... how?!
This one takes No. 1 because of the sheer volume of wackiness involved.
Let's first watch the clip:
OK, here we go:
- Haden plays this pass perfectly and has the interception ... until Sean Davis destroys him
- Even if Haden drops the pick, this is an incomplete pass ... until Sean Davis destroys him
- Even if Haden gets totally roasted on this route from Keenan Allen, Davis probably destroys Allen instead, or makes his own play on the ball
- The ball really ricocheted like that?!
After the season, I asked Mike Hilton which loss bothered him the most in 2018.
His selection is no surprise:
Yep. In a season of weird bounces, inexplicably poor kicking, bad calls and poor execution down the stretch, that 33-31 defeat to the Chargers looms large.
The Steelers will have their shot at revenge Oct. 13 in Los Angeles.
