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Steelers defense struggles in loss

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Bills wide receiver Tobais Palmer catches a touchdown pass, beating Steelers defensive back Alden Darby during the second half of Saturday’s preseason game in Orchard Park, N.Y.

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Bills tight end Charles Clay scores on a 67-yard touchdown pass from E.J. Manuel as Steelers cornerback Doran Grant pursued in the first quarter Saturday in Orchard Park, N.Y.

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Mike Vick was solid in his Steelers debut. The quarterback passed for 106 yards in limited duty.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The third week of the preseason is typically a dress rehearsal for most NFL teams.

The Steelers largely used their understudies.

Buffalo played many of its starters well into the third quarter and took advantage of many Pittsburgh reserves, handing the Steelers a 43-19 loss Saturday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Buffalo quarterbacks completed 30 of 33 passes for 386 yards and the Bills (2-1) added 156 rushing yards, punting just once in the game.

“Today was a horrible performance,” said Steelers linebacker James Harrison. “It was like Burger King. They were having it their way and we were serving it to them.”

Head coach Mike Tomlin agreed with that assessment, though he did so in less colorful fashion.

“Usually, I’ll reserve judgment until after we’ve watched the tape. But it doesn’t require a lot of tape study to kind of analyze some of the things that were issues in that performance,” said Tomlin, whose team dropped to 1-3 this preseason. “We continue to be slow starters. That’s disturbing. We’ve got to address that. Some of our young guys, who are fighting for jobs, quite frankly, are not executing with enough detail to be in consideration. And that’s disappointing.

“As we push through to the end of this, I’d like to see the arrow pointed up and them fighting for jobs. Some of those guys, quite frankly, looked like walking dead. We’ve got to analyze that and keep those who are committed to fighting. Some of that stuff was quite disturbing, not the kind of performance we’re looking for. After a performance like that, you analyze it, not just from a playing standpoint, but a coaching standpoint. I think that’s appropriate, and we’ll do that.”

While much of the damage was done against guys fighting – or not fighting according to Tomlin – for roster spots, Buffalo easily scored on its only two possessions against Pittsburgh’s starters.

Fred Jackson broke off a 41-yard run on the Bills’ first play from scrimmage to set up his 1-yard scoring run. Then, after the Steelers scored on a 1-yard DeAngelo Williams run and took an 8-7 lead on his 2-point conversion run, the Bills went to the air for their second score.

E.J. Manuel, locked in a three-way battle with Tyrod Taylor and Matt Cassell for Buffalo’s starting quarterback job, completed a 67-yard catch-and-run to tight end Charles Clay down the seam.

“I would say it was just unacceptable,” said defensive end Cam Heyward. “We understand that there are going to be mistakes, but we’ve got to get better and not let it happen anymore.”

The Steelers opened the game without three defensive starters in defensive end Stephon Tuitt, safety Mike Mitchell and inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons. A number of other starters on both sides ball exited the game following that series as Tomlin protected some of his front-line players from injury.

That didn’t work, however, as placekicker Garrett Hartley, signed three weeks ago to replace injured Shaun Suisham, suffered a hamstring injury while kicking off in the first quarter. He had an MRI performed when the team returned to Pittsburgh, but Tomlin was not optimistic about the injury.

He did like what he saw out of new quarterback Mike Vick, signed earlier this week to be Ben Roethlisberger’s backup.

Vick completed 4 of 5 passes for 106 yards after entering the game on Pittsburgh’s third offensive series.

“I thought it was a good start,” said Tomlin. “We wanted to get him some exposure. He’s only been here for about five days. I think the real work now starts as we go back and continue to practice this week coming up.”

There will be plenty to work on. The Steelers took a 19-13 lead early in the second quarter on a 39-yard touchdown pass from third-stringer Landry Jones to Martavis Bryant, but really didn’t come close to scoring again.

Bryant, who learned Thursday he is facing a four-game suspension by the NFL for violation of the drug policy, had three receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown.

Buffalo, meanwhile, poured it on, getting a touchdown run and field goal in the closing minute of the first half to take a 23-19 lead.

The Bills, who played a number of starters into the third quarter, added three more touchdowns in the second half against the Steelers’ overmatched second and third stringers.

Rosters will be trimmed from 90 to 75 players by Tuesday, while the final 53-man roster must be set by Sept. 5. The Steelers open the NFL season Sept. 10 in New England.

Concerns about the defense, which has played about one quarter in this preseason with the 11 projected starters, are mounting.

“Obviously, we’re getting toward the end of this process,” Tomlin said. “But obviously, we didn’t play (Timmons) and some others. There’s not enough of a body of work. Mike Mitchell has missed a bunch of time. But you know how it is. A couple of Thursdays from now, we’ll be on the clock. So we’d better get better and get solid in a hurry.”

The Steelers rushed for just 43 yards on 19 carries. … Punter Jordan Berry took over kickoff duties after Hartley was injured. He also averaged 58.3 yards on four punts compared to 47.0 yards by Brad Wing on two kicks. … Rookie linebacker Bud Dupree, the Steelers’ top draft pick, left the game in the second half with foot soreness and did not return. Tomlin was not concerned about the injury.

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