This was supposed to be the year — again — for the Steelers in the AFC playoffs. Instead, they're entering an offseason-long nightmare, knowing they are stuck in reverse in their quest to win another Super Bowl with Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin.
Five years into the "Killer B's" era, they're not much closer to a championship than they were in 2013, when Antonio Brown broke out as an elite wideout and Le'Veon Bell was drafted as an elite running back.
After advancing an additional round, from wild card to AFC title game, in each of the previous three postseasons, the Steelers on Sunday suffered a stunning 45-42 home loss to the Jaguars in the divisional round, denying them a much-anticipated conference championship rematch with the Patriots. Whether or not the coaches and players were looking ahead to New England, they certainly weren't prepared for Jacksonville.
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The Steelers made it close at the end only because of dazzling plays by Brown and Bell against the Jaguars' best defenders. Those superstar "B's" were the only blameless ones; they accounted for 287 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns — or 53 percent of Pittsburgh's yardage and 57 percent of its scoring.
Brown and Bell created buzz as usual, but were it not for arguably the best receiver and best back in the NFL, the Steelers would have gotten blown out in Heinz Field the way the stadium blew up in "The Dark Knight." Given that the result was accompanied by the same devastation, it probably feels like the ground came out from under them.
The other Big B, Roethlisberger, did clean up the five-interception mess he made against the Jaguars in Week 5, but his numbers Sunday (37-of-58 passing, 469 yards, five TDs, one INT, 110.5 rating) didn't make up for the fact he made four critical mistakes a 35-year-old future Hall of Famer isn't supposed to make.
Roethlisberger threw the game's only pick, which helped put the Steelers into a 14-0 hole. In the two-minute drill near the end of the first half, he held the ball way too long against the "Sacksonville" pass rush, leading to a strip-sack scoop and score that made the deficit 28-7. He also audibled on two fourth-and-1 plays deep in Jaguars territory that turned out to be disastrous.
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That's all it takes to lose a playoff game. Any remaining chance the Steelers had in the waning minutes were blown when Tomlin called for an onside kick despite his team being down only a touchdown and having two timeouts left ahead of the two-minute warning.
"We wanted to get the ball back," Tomlin explained to reporters post game. "We hadn't stopped them convincingly enough to take any other approach."
Unfortunately, Tomlin's decision further highlighted his team's disconnect in all three phases. The Steelers' struggles with situational football have no stopping point. Down to the Steelers not kicking a field goal in the game's waning seconds to set up the onside kick they should have attempted, this wasn't a heady game for the team's on-field and sideline leaders.
In fact, Pittsburgh, playing in 16-degree weather against a team from Florida, was the one suffering from brain freeze. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley had Roethlisberger come out throwing in the spread against the Jaguars' nasty pass defense, despite having Bell and a strong run-blocking line. Defensive coordinator Keith Butler failed to adjust to a simple Jaguars attack consisting of power runs, bootlegs and screens.
Blake Bortles was mostly untouched all game, even though he, not Big Ben, was facing the team that recorded the most sacks in the NFL this season. Meanwhile, Roethlisberger ended up making 60 dropbacks, or nearly four times as many carries (16) as Bell got.
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The Steelers were discombobulated and outcoached in every way. They played right into the Jaguars' hands in terms of game flow and matchups. The Jags were more calm, cool, collected and creative. They're the ones who didn't deviate from how they had achieved success, scoring with ease on the opening drive.
The loss leaves the Steelers searching for a lot more answers. Is it time to break up Roethlisberger and Haley after they thought they were finally good? Should they show Bell a lot more than the franchise tag? Are Butler's zone concepts, despite great pass-rush production in the regular season, doomed to keep costing them when it counts?
Roethlisberger still has "it," as seen in many of the clutch throws he made in trail mode against a Jaguars pass defense that has few holes. Tomlin is a fine coach, as seen by consistently having the Steelers in playoff position after Bell's rookie year.
But it also seems as though the Steelers have psyched themselves out. They're so confident in what they do and what they say, they've set themselves up to be severely humbled. When the stakes are raised and an opponent throws them off a little, they tend to fall apart.
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The Steelers' Super Bowl XLIII-winning run with Roethlisberger and Tomlin is now nine years in the rearview. Their losing trip to Super Bowl XLV was seven years ago. Everyone knows that in either instance, they didn't need to go through Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots.
Perhaps obsessed with finally getting it done by going through New England, Pittsburgh has gotten in its own way more and more. It happened vs. Jacksonville in large scale. It happened earlier vs. New England when Roethlisberger, after the infamous Jesse James no-catch, promptly threw away what was still a golden game-winning or -tying opportunity.
In that Patriots game, and in previous playoff trips, the Steelers haven't had Brown and/or Bell healthy and effective together for entire games. With Brown showing no limitations from his calf injury Sunday, that excuse wasn't available after the loss to the Jaguars.
Instead, there were critical mental errors that the dynasty they're chasing don't make in the playoffs. Now the Steelers have dropped back in line behind the Jaguars, who whipped them twice this season and were the more efficient and better-executing team both times.
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That has left the Steelers in the worst place: a playoff team that's a distant third in a weak AFC. Any breakthrough while Tomlin, Big Ben, Brown and Bell are still together is pretty much dependent on the Patriots suddenly, shockingly, breaking up Brady and Belichick.
You would think that Pittsburgh, seeing how its AFC North foes — Baltimore, Cincinnati and Cleveland — melt down against it, could learn how not to do it against Jacksonville and New England. As the Steelers were losing to the Jaguars on Sunday, it was clear they were also losing to their inner demons and their bigger nemesis.
These Steelers have the talent and, yes, the coaching, to get a ring. They're like the Packers of the AFC: They might require more of a purge before making that extra surge. For now, however, they're stuck in the most frustrating state of playoff purgatory.
