Steelers can’t pass test against Seattle
Associated Press Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls jumps after scoring a second-half touchdown Sunday as Steelers safety Mike Mitchell lies in the end zone.
Associated Press Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 456 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions Sunday against the Seahawks in Seattle.
SEATTLE – The Steelers came to Seattle Sunday for a litmus test.
Coming off their bye, they wanted to see if they could match up on the road with a Seahawks team that had been to the last two Super Bowls, winning it two years ago.
Consider the mission a failure.
The Seahawks picked off four passes and Russell Wilson threw five touchdown passes as Seattle handed Pittsburgh a 39-30 defeat.
“The offense gave us 30 points,” said Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward. “When you get opportunities like that, it’s hard to swallow the letdown. It shouldn’t sit well with any of us.”
The loss drops the Steelers to 6-5 and, more important, pushes them out of a potential playoff spot with five games remaining.
Currently, Kansas City, Houston and the Jets are 6-5, with the Chiefs and Texans holding down the two playoff spots based on better conference records.
Perhaps more important, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter and did not finish the game. He’ll be forced to pass NFL concussion protocol this week before he’s permitted to return to the field.
“We’re not going to get down about it,” said guard David DeCastro. “We’ve still got five games left, hopefully more.”
There won’t be more if the Steelers don’t play better than they did against the Seahawks (6-5).
Seattle came into the game with an NFL-worst four interceptions but had four in this game, turning three into touchdowns.
The first came on a fake field goal attempt on the first play of the second quarter. The Steelers sent backup quarterback Landry Jones onto the field as the holder and he stood up and took the snap from center.
Jones rolled to his right and attempted to throw back across the field to tackle Alejandro Villanueva – Army’s top receiver in his senior season in college – down the sideline.
Instead, cornerback Jeremy Lane made a leaping interception in front of Villanueva, returning it 54 yards to the Pittsburgh 24.
“I own that,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Jones, who isn’t normally part of the kicking unit, came on the field late, perhaps tipping the Seahawks that something was up.
“I was rolling out and I was looking for Heath (Miller),” said Jones. “They covered Heath pretty well. I just tried to put it up high enough for Al. The guy made a good play.”
That set up the first of three Wilson TD passes to receiver Doug Baldwin that made it 7-3.
The last of Baldwin’s three touchdown catches was the backbreaker for the Steelers.
After Roethlisberger scrambled to the Seattle 3 to set up a Chris Boswell field goal to make it 32-30 with 3:02 remaining in the game, the Steelers needed a defensive stop to get the ball back.
On third-and-10 from the Seattle 20, Baldwin caught a short pass over the middle, broke away from cornerback Antwon Blake and outraced the secondary 80 yards for a touchdown.
It was one of six third-down-and-long conversions for the Seahawks.
“There’s no reason we can’t win that down,” said Heyward. “That’s in our favor, and there’s no way we should be letting them score on those plays or convert on those plays.”
Wilson finished 21 of 30 for a career-high 345 yards and five touchdowns, outdueling Roethlisberger, who completed 35 of 55 passes for 456 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. His yardage total was the highest allowed in Seattle history.
With All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman matched on Steelers’ All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown, who had six catches for 51 yards, third-year receiver Markus Wheaton had a career game.
Wheaton had nine catches for 201 yards and a touchdown.
“If they’re matching Richard Sherman, then other guys not named Antonio Brown are going to have opportunities,” said Tomlin. “Markus did a nice job, no question.”
But it wasn’t enough.
Pittsburgh will probably need to win at least four of its final five games to earn a playoff spot.
“We’re very prideful in what we do. That really hits home,” said linebacker Lawrence Timmons of giving up 39 points. “They executed well. It was a big game for them.
“We’ve got to get off on third downs. We were doing good on first and second down. We were giving up plays at the end. That’s killer.”
Odds and end zones
Miller suffered a rib injury in the second quarter and did not return. … Linebacker Ryan Shazier suffered a concussion and did not return, and linebacker Sean Spence had a hamstring injury and did not return. … The Steelers are 6 of 9 on two-point conversions this season after going 1-for-2 Sunday. … The Seahawks lost Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham to a torn patella tendon in the fourth quarter. … Pittsburgh ran the ball just 14 times, five of which were by Roethlisberger. … Safety Mike Mitchell led the Steelers with eight tackles. … Heyward and cornerback William Gay had sacks for Pittsburgh. … The Steelers are now 1-7 all-time in Seattle.