Two late Roethlisberger interceptions contribute to Steelers' 16-10 loss
Well, that didn't last long.
The much-anticipated reunion of the Steelers' version of the Killer B's of Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell, Martavis Bryant and Antonio Brown lasted all of 20 minutes Sunday against the Bengals.
And now, the Steelers' hopes of defending their AFC North championship are ticking away as well.
Roethlisberger returned after missing four games with a left-knee injury just to see Bell go out with a right-knee injury early in the second quarter as the Bengals rallied behind two fourth-quarter Roethlisberger interceptions to defeat the Steelers, 16-10, at Heinz Field.
The Bengals (7-0) increased their division lead to 3½ games over the Steelers (4-4) at the midway point. If the playoffs started today, the Steelers would be the first team out.
“We are what we are right now,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “Right now, we are 4-4. We embrace that, and we will get back to work (Monday).”
Surprisingly, the Steelers will be working on their offense more than their defense when they get back to work.
The defense held the high-powered Bengals offense, which came into the game averaging more than 30 points and 400 yards, in check for the majority of the game.
But a pair of Roethlisberger interceptions on back-to-back throws in the fourth quarter proved costly. The first one set up Cincinnati's winning score — a 9-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton to A.J. Green on third-and-goal.
Roethlisberger went 28 of 45 for 262 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions in what has become a disturbing trend in his first game back from injury. Roethlisberger is 1-7 and has thrown 11 interceptions in returning from injury.
“I am obviously disappointed in the way that I played,” Roethlisberger said. “This one is on me, and I am taking the blame and letting everyone know that I have to play better.”
Roethlisberger's teammates aren't buying that.
“Don't even listen to (Roethlisberger) if he wants to take the blame for this because it falls on all of us,” guard Ramon Foster said. “(Roethlisberger) is a stand-up guy, but he can't take the fall for that. The offense has to do better as a whole when put in that situation. We have to finish by any means necessary. We can't want to be one of the best offenses in the world and don't finish. That's on us.”
The Steelers finished on their initial drive — a 1-yard touchdown pass to Brown that capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive — but could only manage a 32-yard Chris Boswell field goal after that.
On the drive, Roethlisberger completed 4 of 5 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown and the “didn't miss a beat” theory leading up to the game seemed true.
It wasn't.
“It is not how you start, it is how you finish,” Brown said. “We didn't piggyback off of it.”
Four consecutive punts to end the half was followed by a second-half drive chart of interception, field goal, punt, punt, interception, interception and a final throw out of the end zone from the 16-yard line as time expired to put the cap on a poor offensive performance.
“No, we went down the field with that drive in the beginning,” Roethlisberger said about being rusty. “It was just bad football on my part, and I apologize.”
Still, the Steelers were in control, especially after Antwon Blake intercepted Dalton in the end zone in a 10-6 game in the fourth and Mike Mitchell picked one off the next drive.
But Roethlisberger gave it right back when he scrambled before trying to fit a pass into Will Johnson on the sidelines that was intercepted by Shawn Williams. The Bengals turned that into what would be the winning score six plays later.
The Steelers had one last chance and drove the ball from their 20 to the Cincinnati 16 in less than two minutes, but Roethlisberger's toss into the end zone was off-target to Brown to end the game.
“We have been in this situation one too many times before, and we didn't do our part,” Foster said. “We can't be Robin all the time. We have to be Batman and go in and finish games. There's no excuse on how we didn't finish the game. No excuses.”
Mark Kaboly is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at mkaboly@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MarkKaboly_Trib.
