Steel City is crumbling.
Pittsburgh lost its third straight on Saturday against the Colts, 30-13, becoming equal parts anemic and mistake prone as the game wore on rather than capitalizing on early gains.
"Let's be honest. We're a fundamentally poor football group right now," head coach Mike Tomlin said following the defeat. "We're playing losing football. I take responsibility for that. By losing football I mean we're just not doing fundamental things well enough. We're not. We're turning the ball over. We're highly penalized. We don't play good in situations. So, I'm just acknowledging that."
It's good that Tomlin is willing to acknowledge what was clearly on display Saturday in Indianapolis, and he promised that "everything's on the table" as far as finding improvement through altering the team's approach, but opportunities for meaningful change are running out this year.
The Steelers looked to have found something early on against the Colts. Rebounding from a quick three-and-out, Mitchell Trubisky rallied the offense with a 12-play, 54-yard scoring drive on which he played his best ball of the day, going 4 of 5 for 43 yards and punching the ball in with a 1-yard run.
Then the defense forced a three-and-out of its own, and the special teams laid the foundation for the beginnings of a runaway by blocking Indy's punt and recovering 1 yard from pay dirt, which Trubisky and Co. found two plays later.
But much like Pittsburgh's now-fading playoff aspirations, the momentum disappeared promptly after that.
Quarterback Gardner Minshew and the Colts mounted a 75-yard touchdown drive in response to the 13-point deficit, and although the Steelers delivered a goal-line stand to spoil another 70-yard effort directly following a Trubisky interception, the defense eventually allowed a third consecutive possession to travel 70-plus yards -- this time allowing a TD that turned out to be the contest's final lead change.
Coming out of halftime trailing, 14-13, Pittsburgh's offense would manage just 67 more yards, and the defense became powerless to stop an offense that had lost both wide receiver Michael Pittman and running back Zack Moss in the first half.
The Steelers had their own attrition on the back end, having seen safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick depart with a knee injury and Damontae Kazee earn an ejection for the hit that knocked Pittman from the game. Still, the other defensive stars went silent.
After picking up two of Pittsburgh's three sacks (all of which came in the first half) to bring his season total to 16, T.J. Watt didn't manage a pressure over the final two quarters. Much of that was due to the fact that the Colts' backup RBs, Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson, could do whatever they desired on the ground. Those two combined for 155 yards on 28 carries and both averaged 5.2 yards per tote or more.
With little need to pass in order to move the ball in the second half, the Colts simply didn't, a philosophy exemplified best by a drive that took 8:57, was comprised of 13 runs to just one throw, and ran Indianapolis' unanswered points tally to 27.
That backbreaking exhibition came directly after Tomlin elected to punt from the Colts' 39-yard line despite the opportunity to make it a one-score game on a long field-goal try.
"Not a lot had gone in our way to that juncture that made me feel good about banging a 57-yard field goal," he said. "Particularly on the down before. I thought we might take a shot or check it down, and we end up throwing the ball out of bounds. And so I didn't like that field positioning."
As seen in that passed-up kick, the Steelers did little to force things back their way. The game script followed suit, and Trubisky was eventually benched in favor of Mason Rudolph after a poorly overthrown pick in the fourth quarter.
Asked about Trubisky's performance following the game, Tomlin spread the blame to everyone: "None of us were good enough, starting first and foremost with myself."
The Steelers ultimately lost the yardage battle, 372-216, the turnover battle, 3-0, and committed eight penalties for 101 yards compared to Indianapolis' two for 10.
Their loss was earned, and it sent them plummeting to the 10th seed in the AFC with little time left to turn things around and few apparent solutions to do so.
"I don't necessarily have the answers as we sit here today," Tomlin admitted. "If I had the answers, we would've played differently today."
