Short-handed defense 'leaking' at the worst possible time

INDIANAPOLIS -- The one calling card from this Steelers defense was its stronghold of keeping opponents out of the end zone. 

That calling card is turning into a Joker gone wild. This short-handed unit that became thinner busted when the Colts had to pivot to their respective short-handed unit in this 30-13 loss to the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Saturday.

The "attrition," as Mike Tomlin oftentimes refers to, was totally lost by the Steelers.

“Yes," Tomlin confirmed post-game.

The "attrition" was totally at a loss when Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson -- who entered Saturday's game with a combined 52 career carries, all from Sermon -- gashed the Steelers for a combined 155 yards on 26 carries, which paved the way for the Colts' 170 rushing yards and 5.0 per carry as a team. 

Or, as Tomlin put it: 

“They played well and we didn't," he said.

Even with Jonathan Taylor unavailable and with Zack Moss toting just four carries before leaving with an injury, a war of attrition fought by this Steelers defense turned into a blitzkrieg from the Colts.

For the third week in a row, the Steelers' defense let opposing running backs put on their own respective shows. And, for as damned as their brethren on their offense have been this season, their bend-but-don't-let-the-dam-burst play caught up to them in the ugliest possible way on Saturday.

Sermon and Goodson weren't Eric Dickerson or Edgerrin James out there. They were two practice-squad lifers who made easy work of a defense that -- even with T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, and Minkah Fitzpatrick in it -- boasts far more bark than bite these days.

And even though Moss exited the game, he still made somewhat of an impact with this receiving score early in the second quarter:

No experience of attrition could have prepared the Steelers for this one. Right after Pressley Harvin clanked a 22-yard, surrender-worthy punt when Tomlin elected to boot it away from his own 39 late in the third quarter, the Colts sealed this war of attrition for good.

It was a 15-play, 70-yard masterclass of a drive across 8 minutes and 57 seconds that ended in a Matt Gay field goal to give the Colts their 27-13 lead with 9:17 remaining. On that drive, Sermon and Goodson rushed for all of the Colts' 70 yards on 13 plays. The lone pass attempted was Gardner Minshew's incompletion to Alec Pierce on 3rd and 6 from the Steelers' 13-yard line.

"They just continued to smash the run and we were not able to stop it," Watt said. "They were able to continue to dictate what they wanted to do, and when you don't stop something they're going to do it, and that's what you saw."

Even Alex Highsmith couldn't find a way to stop it:

And, everyone has noticed by this point. The sharpest comment of all regarding the Steelers' defense came from one of their own from the offense:

“Defense is leaking. They’ve got some players down, and it’s showing on defense," Diontae Johnson said.

Johnson gave that response when I asked him where he felt things went wrong and where the biggest deficiency in that loss was. "Defense is leaking" were the first three words out of his mouth before he went on to talk about his offense in brief.

And, he could not have been more correct.

It did not just happen on Saturday. This is the third straight game in which the ghosts from running backs past lit up this group for a massive amount of yards that led to points in some capacities.

Over the three-game losing streak to the Cardinals, Patriots, and Colts, the Steelers have allowed James Conner, Ezekiel Elliott, Sermon, and Goodson to combine for 412 all-purpose yards on 84 total touches, or just a tick under 5.0 yards per touch. Conner got all 105 of his yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and Elliott rushed for 68 yards and caught seven passes for 72 yards and a touchdown last Thursday.

Something is, clearly, missing. Watt couldn't put a finger on what it is.

“That’s a good question," he said. "If I had that answer I would tell you right now, but I think it’s a combination of a lot of things and that’s what we need to figure out and solve as quick as possible moving forward. We have a game in a week.”

Watt won't say this as a mode of excuse, of course, but what's missing is, literally, the bodies and the fiber of this defense.

Forge for a moment that Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander are out for the season, because they have been out for the season for more than a month. This defense had Watt and Highsmith clear the concussion protocol Friday, it saw Cam Heyward go into it shortly after Saturday's game ended, and it has been missing Keanu Neal from the back end. 

On top of that, Damontae Kazee was ejected for an unnecessary roughness penalty when he hit Michael Pittman with 8:42 left in the second quarter, Fitzpatrick was injured on the next play and didn't return -- and could miss more time, depending on pending tests back in Pittsburgh -- and Trenton Thompson missed some snaps in the third quarter with a stinger.

Elandon Roberts has been a bright spot in this defense at many points this season. But, when all of those players go down and the Steelers have to resort to Mykal Walker and Mark Robinson next to him at inside linebacker and Miles Killebrew and Patrick Peterson at safety, that's a hard time.

"It was challenging. It was challenging losing Kazee and losing Minkah," Roberts said.

Challenging? Absolutely.

Unfortunate? Of course.

Too bad? You bet.

But this defense has been prone to allowing big plays from running backs all season. Christian McCaffrey lit the Steelers up for 152 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. Jerome Ford boomed for 106 yards and a receiving touchdown after Nick Chubb went down for the season in Week 2. Dameon Pierce tallied 108 all-purpose yards in Week 4. Darrell Henderson and Royce Freeman combined for 127 rushing yards and a touchdown in Week 7. Travis Etienne tacked on 149 all-purpose yards and a receiving touchdown in Week 8. Derrick Henry posted 102 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in Week 9. Then came Conner. Then Elliott. Then Sermon and Goodson.

This is nothing new to these Steelers, short-handed or not. That's 11 running backs -- some used in combination -- that have caused havoc for these Steelers this season. 

That's a problem Teryl Austin has not been able to solve into mid-December. That's a problem that's only limiting this team's capabilities even further.