Steelers face real problems after blowout

The Pittsburgh Steelers are supposed to be one of the contenders that could knock off the New England Patriots heading into the season. Last year, they reached the AFC Championship Game, only to be dropped by those Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

With the return of wide receiver Martavis Bryant from suspension, it was believed that Pittsburgh would be better than ever. Instead, the Steelers have mostly looked miserable to begin the season, something that continued at Heinz Field on Sunday with a comical 30-9 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Jacksonville has one of the better defense sin the league and came into the afternoon with the highest-ranked pass defense in the NFL. Still, the Steelers were favored by double-digits because of a high-flying attack and a solid defense of its own. Instead of winning easily, the Steelers struggled through most of the first half but led 9-7 in the third quarter before Ben Roethlisberger threw a pair of pick-sixes, first to Telvin Smith and then to safety Barry Church.

By the end of the game, Roethlisberger had thrown five interceptions in what was the worst performance of his career. This coming only a week after the team had drama on the sideline, with Antonio Brown going off after Roethlisberger didn’t see him for what would have been an easy touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens.

While the season and all of their goals are still ahead of them, the Steelers face real issues. The offense has not been able to get on track, failing to score 30 points in any of their five games this season. Pittsburgh has also seen Roethlisberger struggle to throw the ball down the field, with its vertical passing game notably absent.

The Steelers are sitting 3-2, good enough to be tied atop the AFC North with the Ravens, who they beat a week ago in M&T Bank Stadium. However, things are about to get much tougher. In the first five weeks of the year, the Steelers got to play DeShone Kizer, Case Keenum, Mike Glennon, Joe Flacco and Blake Bortles. This weekend, Pittsburgh goes to Kansas City to take on Alex Smith and the Chiefs, the only undefeated team in the league. Kansas City figures to be full of motivation after losing 18-16 to Pittsburgh in the AFCDivisional round in January.

This is no time to panic for the black and gold, but something clearly has to change. If it doesn’t, the Steelers still might find their way to January base on talent and a bad division, but the stay won’t be long.