Really, Mike Tomlin? ”I’m not displeased with anything in terms of how the game unfolded other than the turnover ratio." How about horrible play-calling, failure to run the ball, failure to stop the run, losing to a 4-win team?

… the fake FG was great, though

Sometimes, you hate being right, and that is the case when I predicted what happened in the Steelers loss to Denver yesterday. Now, I am worried about the woeful Oakland Raiders since we cannot beat sub-.500 teams on the road.

I have already conceded a loss to the Saints in New Orleans, but still have hope at home. However, what I had said earlier in the season — the December schedule is brutal — still holds: The Chargers, Patriots, and Bengals are all at Heinz.

While everyone, myself included, was optimistic about the Steelers postseason hopes after the way we decimated the Carolina Panthers on a Thursday night a few weeks ago, that hope has now dissipated and reality has set in, which is closer to despondency.

So, what went wrong?

As the quote in the headline notes, Tomlin was happy with everything except the four turnovers — which were killers.

How can he say he was pleased despite the fact that his team had 527 yards and the other 308 and lost? Or, that he lost to a sub-.500 team? Or, that his team had fewer than 100 yards on the ground against one of the worst run defenses in the league?

A brief review of the turnovers. The final one, the interception by Denver of a Roethlisberger pass in the end zone, was the worst. What did he see? I ran the video again, and I did not even see anyone in the area. That is not a pass that you would see Brady or Brees throwing with the game on the line.

Yes, he threw for 452 yards, and JuJu Smith-Schuster had a great game, particularly the 97-yard play, but you have to make those plays late in the game with a second-round bye on the line.

So, with a first-and-goal from the 3, you cannot score? I will go back to the play-calling later, which was horrendous, particularly on the final three plays.

The fumble by the third-string tight end, Xavier Grimble, was also brutal. However, the hit was outstanding, and it was just bad luck fumbling into the end zone instead of out of bounds at the 1.

James Conner’s fumble, which led to the winning TD by the Broncos, was deep in Broncos territory and took away another scoring opportunity. I will repeat what I said before. He has only 53 yards rushing and 43 receiving, but does not seem as sharp as he was before Le’Veon flew the coop. They need more consistent play from him. Two pass drops vs. Jacksonville and a very costly fumble this week.

Roethlisberger now has five interceptions in the past two weeks against teams that are sub-.500. Hopefully, he will play better against the top teams they will face over the next four weeks.

Play-calling

The Tribune-Review's’ Tim Benz points out some of the major problems that the Steelers had other than turnovers.

I will focus first on the play-calling. He notes that the ratio of passing to rushing was problematic for a number of reasons.

“The pass-run ratio was 62 drop backs, which includes sacks and scrambles, to 14 handoffs. That's not balanced enough.

“This is especially true when you consider that the Broncos run defense ranks 27th in the league, whereas their pass defense is a more respectable 18th,” Benz wrote.

For example, take the play-calling at the end when they needed a tie to send the game into OT. First and goal from the three and they call a fade against a team with one of the worst defenses in the NFL against the run? That may have been on Roethlisberger and not offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner, but the fact that they ran the ball just 14 times against the defense is on Fichtner.

I am really starting to yearn for the play-calling of Todd Haley — seriously.

Benz admits that the red-zone ratio for the team this year is good considering it has been shaky at times in the past, but some of the play-calling — even that which necessitated the beautiful fake field goal — was questionable.

A shovel pass on the goal line?

“The last two weeks, though, the Steelers have gotten way too elaborate. Roethlisberger admitted to being the fourth option on his aborted shovel pass scramble to beat the Jaguars in the closing seconds last week. And he said it felt like the Jags knew the play was coming [probably because Landry Jones might have told them about it.]

“They tried it again this week before the fake field goal, and it was a bust. The previous two plays were passes as well, with one timeout remaining.

“In the fourth quarter's closing moments — down 24-17 — Roethlisberger tried a fade to JuJu Smith-Schuster, a run behind the left tackle, and the overly complicated run-pass option that Shelby Harris intercepted.

“Why not just slam Conner behind Roosevelt Nix at least once, if not twice, to see what happens before tempting fate with a pass?“

He is absolutely right.

And then there is the blocked field goal on their first possession. That set the tone for the game. They never seemed to recover completely, even after the great TD to end the first half.

Losing a potential bye and second-seed

ESPN noted that the Patriots moved ahead of the Steelers into the second-seed position after the Steelers loss, but that is pretty much moot since the teams play one another in a few weeks.

However, if they had entered next week’s game against the Chargers with a seven-game winning streak, I would feel much better about their chances down the stretch.

JuJu was fabulous

His numbers tell it all: 189 yards on 13 catches and one TD, which was a thing of beauty. While teams are focusing on Antonio Brown, Roethlisberger is correctly going to JuJu, who now has 1,068 yards from scrimmage to Brown’s 874.

That is a great performance by the second-year guy from USC.