PHILADELPHIA -- While it's no surprise the Steelers lost Sunday afternoon to the undefeated Eagles, how the game finished with a 35-13 final score exposed just how bad this Pittsburgh football team is heading into the bye week.
Penalties were a killer for the Steelers, but giving up big plays on defense is ultimately what slammed the door on any chance of avoiding a 2-6 start to the season.
"We got to keep a lid on it. If you don’t keep a lid on it in the NFL, you don’t give yourself a chance to play. We didn’t do that," Mike Tomlin said. "I thought it was a domino effect from there-on. I thought our eyes weren’t in the right place defensively. It’s capable of happening when you’re not keeping a lid on it. You got to keep a lid on it."
The Steelers did not keep a lid on several things in Sunday's loss. But, keeping a lid A.J. Brown, or slowing him down even a little bit, might have actually made all the difference in this game, in spite of all the other mistakes.
The defense actually started off the first series in a decent way. The Eagles converted one third down to keep the chains moving, but then stopped them on a third and 2. However, Jalen Hurts was able to hit Dallas Goedert quickly in the flat for a short gain that was enough for a first down.
Then, two plays later, all Hurts had was a prayer to Brown in the end zone -- in double coverage. When Minkah Fitzpatrick is there to make a play, he seldom misses an opportunity.
Yet...
"Position is just a component of play-making," Tomlin said. "The finish is equally as important as the positioning. We were in position, but their guy made a play. We didn’t."
This was a recurring theme not only on defense, but with Brown.
After the Steelers were able to answer with a touchdown of their own and make it a 7-7 ballgame, the Eagles once again drove down the field. And, once again, it looked like the defense was going to at least hold the Eagles to a field goal. But, once again, a member of the Steelers' secondary was in position to make a play on a ball to Brown, but did not:
Now, that's a great throw from Hurts. But Ahkello Witherspoon is right there. Despite being in a good position, he never gets his head turned around to make a play on the ball, which makes it a whole heck of a lot easier for Brown to come down with the perfect throw.
"Good position doesn't get the job done. That's really what it is," Witherspoon said. "You can be there, but you've gotta make the play. I didn't make the play."
Things went from bad to worse two series later. The offense was unable to recreate any of the success they had on their touchdown drive, resorting in two punts. After a 38-yard shanked punt by Pressley Harvin, the Eagles started their drive on their 40-yard line, and Hurts immediately made two big completions that put them on the Pittsburgh 29-yard line.
In what was pretty much a carbon copy of the last touchdown, Hurts once again put the ball in perfect position for Brown. And this time, Witherspoon was not in a very good position, making it rather easy for Brown to secure his third touchdown of the game:
The Steelers had left their cornerbacks in single coverage, hoping they could secure the outside so the other nine defenders could be better utilized to thwart the dangerous Eagles offense.
"I think I enjoy it the most -- being in single coverage," Brown said. "My eyes light up because I know I have a possibility to get the ball. It’s my ball or nobody’s ball."
The problem for the Steelers is a lot of balls that went to Brown ended up being his ball. So much so, that Tomlin benched Witherspoon after the third touchdown in favor of James Pierre. After racking up 113 yards on five receptions in the first half, the Steelers were able to limit Brown in the second half to only one catch.
However, that one catch helped set up yet another Eagles score early in the fourth quarter. One that included a busted coverage and killed any remote chance of a fluke comeback:
Speaking of busted coverages, the Eagles' fourth touchdown of the game showed it wasn't only Witherspoon that had a bad day at the office. Zach Pascal was completely forgotten and scored easily to extend the Eagles' lead right away at the start of the second half:
As for Witherspoon, Sunday was his first game he played since injuring his hamstring in the Week 3 loss at Cleveland. He had been working slowly back to good health, and Tomlin was clear his performance and the decision to bench him had nothing to do with any lingering effects of the injury.
"No, there’s no excuses regarding the play that we put out there. Whether it’s one of us as an individual or us as a collective," Tomlin said. "I wouldn’t put him on the field if he wasn’t ready to go."
The Steelers are in uncharted waters. Yes, they were 2-6 under Tomlin in 2013, then flipped the script by going 6-2 to finish 8-8. But, they weren't in these circumstances. Tomlin has a rookie quarterback leading an offense in transition, and a defense playing without their best player, with an aging front that is simply not playing well. Not to mention several other issues. The list is too long.
"It’s not necessarily just one thing, just kind of a collection. It’s different things, what the game brings us," Cam Sutton said after the game. "Situational in certain areas and things happen throughout the course of the game or throughout the weeks. We just need to keep putting ourselves in the best position to come out with wins. It’s easy to keep saying that but something has to give. Yeah, something has to give. So just keep coming back. Guys are playing with a lot of effort. Come back after the bye week and get back on the right track."
Whatever they need to do to get back on track. Because, Terrell Edmunds said it best: "Right now, we're just not a good football team."
