Aug 26, 2017 3 min read

PITTSBURGH – If this was the dress rehearsal, the Steelers might want to get in some more work on the performance.

The Steelers played their regulars throughout the first half Saturday night at Heinz Field in a 19-15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. The end result was a spotty performance.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and receiver Antonio Brown played just two offensive series. The first ended with Roethlisberger being sacked and stripped of the football by linebacker John Simon when left tackle Alejandro Villanueva didn’t get out quickly enough to get a backside block.

The second offensive series was finished by a run for no gain by Knile Davis and back-to-back passes attempts to tight end Jesse James that were broken up and resulted in a field goal.

It was not exactly a great performance by Roethlisberger and company, though Brown looked sharp.

Offense does not, however, appear to be an issue for this team.

The defense, on the other hand, and the secondary in particular, continues to be something of a mystery.

Despite the fact Indianapolis star quarterback Andrew Luck wasn’t playing, the secondary continued with its preseason struggles against Scott Tolzien and Stephen Morris – neither of whom is going to be mistaken for a good NFL quarterback anytime soon.

After Roethlisberger’s fumble, Tolzien connected on a 55-yard pass to Donte Moncrief on a play that should have gone for about a 10-yard gain.

Artie Burns, supposedly the only sure thing among the Steelers’ cornerbacks, was in coverage and attempting to tackle Moncrief when safety Robert Golden rushed up and knocked Burns off.

It was typical of the way things went for the defense.

Tolzien and Morris completed 10 of 15 passes for 175 yards, with only a Ryan Shazier interception early in the second quarter at the Pittsburgh 20 saving things from getting really ugly.

This was a week after that secondary was torched by Atlanta in the first half of their second preseason game.

But what do you expect when the Steelers were basically rotating two cornerbacks and a safety on every series?

Ross Cockrell started at cornerback and Golden at free safety, with William Gay coming in as the slot corner in the nickel defense.

They rotated every other series with Coty Sensabaugh at cornerback, Jordan Dangerfield at safety and Mike Hilton in the slot.

Golden and Dangerfield were playing in place of injured free safety Mike Mitchell. They’re vying to see who will be the top backup.

But the cornerback battle this late in the preseason is troubling for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations.

And it’s unlikely that Saturday night’s performance really solved anything.

That the Steelers only have one more preseason game to sort that situation out is troubling.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way. The Steelers selected cornerback Cam Sutton in the third round of this year’s draft, hoping he would be the player to push Cockrell and Gay.

But because of injuries, Sutton made only his first appearance of the preseason Saturday night.

The common sense solution might be to push Cockrell and Gay to the bench.

After all, the Steelers already know what happens when they face a top team – remember New England? – with those two in their secondary.

At least Sensabaugh and Hilton represent trying something different. And Sutton made some plays in the second half against the Colts to show that maybe he can be a contributor at some point this season.

Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.