After a huge three game win streak that seemed to spark life into the Steelers, they came out and showed flashes of their inconsistencies from the past two seasons by dropping a game to a previously one win Jets team and arguably the worst team in the NFL. It was an awful game by the Steelers and it has been hard to watch them these past couple of seasons losing these games to poor opponents with very low win percentages. The consistency has just not been there and that is why the Steelers have been missing the playoffs and teams like the Patriots never miss the playoffs because they win games against the mediocre opponents.

The Steelers came out on defense and gave up a quick scoring drive, but only resulting in three points. They then gave up another score on the next possession making it 10-0. However, by no means were the Steelers out of that game. The offense was completely off and they just keep preventing themselves from scoring at every turn. The Steelers had four turnovers total; mind you this is a Jets team who came into the game minus 15 in turnover differential. Ben threw an ill-advised pass in the redzone that was tipped and picked and later threw another very bad pass when he had all the time in the world in the pocket on the Jets’ side of the field. What puzzled me was how the offense came out running and throwing screens when all week all that was talked about was how depleted their secondary was. Ben still managed to throw for 340 yards and a touchdown so it’s not like that secondary was shutting anybody down. All and all the offense was just poor. They could not score in redzone and goal line situations and it only made things worse when Suisham missed a season low 22-yard field goal, which is basically an extra point.

I will give the defense credit. They were a let down on a few drives early and the run defense wasn’t very good but the shut down the Jets’ offense for the most part in the second half. The Jets only managed to score seven of their 20 points off of the costly turnovers by the Steelers so for the most part the defense held their own. Still, the turnovers and mistakes basically lost them this game and games like this are the exact reason why the Steelers have not been able to make the playoffs these past few seasons. They must get consistent and cannot afford to lose to these types of opponents that are under .500. Until then, I am afraid we may not see a playoff Steeler team that we all hope and expect to see.

Positives and Negatives:

Positives: Not many. Solid defense throughout the second half and there were few penalties committed. Other then that, not much else to say.

Negatives: The offense got away from the game plan that worked for the last three weeks and they could not score in the redzone. The turnovers were very costly and the run defense wasn’t as stiff as it had been the past couple of weeks.

Next Week’s Matchup: The Tennessee Titans at Tennessee. Again, here is another game against an opponent with a poor record under .500 and this game will prove if the Steelers can bounce back and finally beat these opponents and stay consistent. Going into the bye week 7-4 would not be so bad and if they can just forget about that Jets game and get back to that winning football, the Steelers still have hope and I still believe in them.

PS: Play consistent and win. Don’t show up for opponents like the Colts and Ravens but then play awful against teams like the Jets and Bucs. You will never make the playoffs playing inconsistent like that.