Halicke: Everything changed with that backbreaking 99-yard drive

There's no denying that Sunday's 24-10 loss to the Cardinals was one of the ugliest in recent Steelers history. The offense continued to struggle with finishing drives and the Steelers' nine penalties hurt them in just about every way imaginable.

Yet, the Steelers out-gained the Cardinals, 317-282. They averaged one more yard per play than Arizona. They also sacked Kyler Murray twice while taking none of their own. However, this game might have been decided with one sequence in this game -- one that will haunt the defense until they can take the field Thursday night against the Patriots.

After the Steelers failed to score on fourth-and-goal at the Arizona 1-yard line, the defense aimed to use the field position to their advantage, pressure the Cardinals into a quick three-and-out and give the ball back to the offense with enough time to break a 3-3 tie before halftime. Instead, the Cardinals marched down the field, using all but 15 seconds of the 4:51 left on the clock, going 99 yards to take a 10-3 lead on this bullet from Murray to Trey McBride:

For lack of a better way of putting it, what in the heck went wrong? After all, up until the Cardinals took over after the Steelers' failed attempt, Arizona had only racked up 26 yards of offense and went 0-for-4 on third down during their first four drives.

One of the first things that went wrong was out of their control. After a 6-yard run by James Conner on the second play of the drive, Elandon Roberts went down for the second and final time with a groin injury and would not return to the game. Roberts wears the green dot on defense, and he's the most impactful player (of the healthy ones available) at that position for Pittsburgh. That's a big loss.

Roberts' absence was felt right away as the Cardinals were able to convert their first third down of the game, gaining 21 yards on third-and-3 from their own 8-yard line:

The Steelers show pressure here with seven up on the line of scrimmage, but drop into a version of what looks like Tampa 2. Damontae Kazee and Patrick Peterson are playing deep off screen, and Trenton Thompson begins running down the middle of the field with his eyes on McBride running down the seam, playing that high linebacker-type in a Tampa 2 defense. What's interesting here is Alex Highsmith drops from his edge spot to cover underneath alongside Mykal Walker, but they leave a gaping hole at the sticks, giving Elijah Higgins time and space to not only move the chains, but also turn upfield for some damaging yards after the catch.

This sequence was the damning pattern for the Steelers on this drive. Of the five first-down plays the Cardinals ran on this drive, the Steelers held them to a combined six yards, with the largest gain being a 3-yard run by Conner. That's good first down defense. What truly killed the Steelers on this drive was their play on third down. After holding Arizona to 0-for-4 on third down prior to this drive, the Cardinals converted five straight third downs. And, 77 of the 99 yards gained on this drive came on those third down plays.

Some of those failures came down to failure at the very basics of the game. This was the second third down of the drive, and it's just painful to watch:

All Walker has to do there is make a tackle. If he does, the Steelers get the ball back with only the Cardinals' punt cutting into the final two minutes of the quarter and all three timeouts at the offense's disposal. Missed tackles like these simply cannot happen, especially on possession downs.

"I put that all on me," Walker told reporters in Pittsburgh after the game. "I think there's a couple plays I had -- I think two or three on that drive -- that we could have got off the field, and I missed those plays. That's something you can' do in this league. Unacceptable performance by me, and I've got to be better."

The effort by Walker on the next third down wasn't nearly as bad:

Sometimes you've just gotta tip your cap to the guy across from you. McBride made a sensational catch, and Walker's coverage wasn't all that bad here. I'm not a fan of the way the Steelers rushed five here, though. Mark Robinson takes far too long to actually begin his rush, and he's already a few yards off the line of scrimmage at the snap. It gives him no chance of getting home. If the defense brings five on a possession down, somebody's got to get in the backfield and at least pressure the quarterback. Murray felt nothing and made a good enough throw to Walker.

However, Walker was a victim on third down once again, and once again McBride got the better of him:

This time, Walker just gets beaten. He goes to jam McBride at the release, but McBride beats him and gets the inside leverage he needs on an in-breaking route. This negates anything the Steelers' pass rush can do, giving Murray a quick and easy target on third down.

While Roberts certainly isn't the best coverage linebacker in the NFL, the Steelers missed him dearly on this drive. The play they really could have used him was the 19-yard run by Michael Carter. And perhaps the Cardinals don't even run that play with Roberts on the field, given his ability as a run stopper.

Either way, there were opportunities to make plays, none more than Walker's missed tackle. Simply put, the Steelers can't go from completely shutting down the Arizona offense on the first four drives of the game, then let them go 5-for-5 on third down and drive 99 yards to take a 10-3 lead. As former Steeler Trai Essex said on Twitter:

Sequences like these can define a game. No, it doesn't account for several other failures by the Steelers in this game, who played at a "J.V." level, according to Mike Tomlin, or getting ravaged by injuries. But, it's a backbreaker, nonetheless.