Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger put what didn't happen on offense against Baltimore squarely on his shoulders, but his offensive linemen aren't buying it.
"I think it falls on the O-line," guard Ramon Foster countered today. "We gotta get some stuff going up front, too."
Added offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert: "If we're not having a good run game, it falls on us. If we're not having a good pass game, it falls on us, as well."
The Steelers managed just one touchdown in Sunday night's 26-14 loss to the Ravens and they've scored in just one of their last six quarters dating back to halftime of a 30-27 win on Sept. 24 in Tampa.
"We've been one of the top offenses in the league the last couple seasons," Gilbert said. "There's no excuse for us to be struggling like this. Everybody expects so much better than that from us.
"All we can do is respond. We have the guys to do it."
That response started today, Gilbert maintained, as the Steelers began focusing in on this Sunday's hosting of Atlanta.
"Guys had a chip on their shoulder today and that's what I like to see," he said. "Guys were getting after it, finishing, making plays.
"A lot of running around out there, guys we really on top of their assignments."
There's no other way for the Steelers to go about it in guard David DeCastro's estimation.
"Everyone's gotta look at themselves, detail, coaches, players, everyone just fine tune it," he said. "lt's the only way to do it.
"There's no secret recipe, it's just guys being better across the board."
The Steelers gained 284 total net yards against the Ravens, the first time all season the offense failed to surpass 400 in that category.
The output against the Ravens included 19 rushing yards on 11 attempts, but Foster emphasized the idea against Atlanta won't necessarily be to run the ball more effectively for the sake of running the ball.
"There's no, 'Hey, we gotta do this, we gotta prove something,'" he said. "No, we just gotta win games. Ben could throw for 450 yards, we could run for 20, I could care less. The run game will come.
"It depends on what the defense is presenting us. You don't want to run into a brick wall, that's idiotic as a team. We have to be a team that understands the situations we're being put in and maximize those."
DeCastro is more interested in improving the Steelers' 2-for-12 performance on third downs against Baltimore than he is rushing for a specific number of yards.
"We just gotta move the ball, convert on third downs," he said. "We should be able to stay on the field, help our defense out.
"We haven't been able to be consistent and that's been killing us."
PITCHER'S PERSPECTIVE: Pirates pitchers Jameson Taillon and Joe Musgrove visited practice. Musgrove was impressed based on what he posted on Instagram: "Coach Tomlin stressed the importance of basic fundamentals today. Something that professional athletes must work on daily. Not the most fun. Not the sexiest. But a key to success. Love seeing true professionals go about their work the right way. #StillerGang"
