Turnover game is costly: The Steelers fought back from an early 17-0 deficit, but it wasn't enough, losing to the Indianapolis Colts, 27-24, for their first loss of the season.
"First, I've got to give credit to the Indianapolis Colts," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "I thought they really brought it, particularly at the beginning of the game. But the beginning of the games don't really define games, it's just the beginning. I thought we had plenty of opportunities.
"I appreciate the fight of our group. I just told them that. But not that I am congratulating them for that. Fight is required in this business. But I am acknowledging that.
"The real, tangible reasons why we lost this game is it's on us. We were sloppy in a lot of ways. You don't win football games versus motivated groups in their venue playing the way that we played today in certain instances."
The Steelers did a good job of protecting the ball, and creating turnovers, in the first three weeks of the season.
But against the Colts, turnovers hurt them, with two fumbles, and a lack of creating turnovers didn't help.
"Just on the surface level, you can look at the turnover game," said Tomlin. "There's a reason why we were unsuccessful today. I think we were plus four coming into this game. It had been a silver bullet in our pocket, if you will. But today we dropped interception opportunities. We had a fumble on the ground defensively that we did not get on. And then we turned the ball over offensively, one time in the red zone.
"And so, you can look no further than some of those instances, but obviously there's more to comb over. We were just generally not as sharp as we need to be in order to function with the level of fluidity that allows comfortable victory to take place.
"So, we'll learn from it. We'll learn obviously with an L. And that's a component of this business that we have to absorb. And we will."
The defense allowed 17 first half points, before the offense got rolling in the second half, with two Justin Fields rushing touchdowns to cut the lead to 24-17. The fight continued, with Fields hitting Pat Freiermuth for an eight-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 27-24.
"I'm appreciative of the fight," said Tomlin. "But I'm not congratulating them for it. That's the business that we're in."
The slow start the team got out to on both sides of the ball is something Tomlin gave credit to the Colts to for they way they came out ready to go.
"I think a component of it is just giving credit to them," said Tomlin. "And that's why I opened this press conference the way that I did, acknowledging how they came out of the locker room."
On the injury front, guard James Daniels and running back/kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson both suffered ankle injuries in the game and are being evaluated.
"We had some bumps and bruises along the way," said Tomlin. "But that's the nature of this thing. It didn't determine the outcome of this game. The quality of our play, or the lack thereof, did. And I own that. We own that."
Stopping themselves: After not being able to generate a lot of offense in the first half, the Steelers put 21 points on the board and almost mounted a comeback from an early 17-0 deficit.
Quarterback Justin Fields liked the fight in the offense trying to bounce back, but it just wasn't enough.
"First and foremost, you can tip your caps to the other team, but at the end of the end of the day I think we beat ourselves," said Fields. "We had some fumbles, one by me and the other by G.P. (George Pickens). But I do like how the offense fought back. We were shooting ourselves in the foot. It's kind of the same story. So, we need to just work on that and work on not hurting ourselves and get to a faster start and not warm up to things and come out of the gate hot."
Fields was encouraged by the fight in the offense, never giving up until the end. But he knows they need to come out of the gates faster and not have to fight back like they did.
"It's something we can control," said Fields. "Just come out and execute. Block the right guys. Get the ball out when I need to get the ball out. It's just execution. It's no mystery. It's not mystical. It's just doing our jobs, everybody doing their jobs. This is the greatest team sport there is, so if we get all 11 guys on offense doing their job, then we won't be in the position we were in.
"Especially when they come out in a hot start. We have to be able to respond in that manner, So, we got to be better on the offensive side of the ball for sure."
The offense got the ball back with 2:39 to play, down by three, and Fields said they felt confident.
"We were very confident," said Fields. "We knew the whole game they weren't stopping us. We were just stopping ourselves. It's kind of crazy that we stopped ourselves on the last drive too.
"It's nothing mysterious. We have to execute, and I have to be better. They weren't stopping us. We were just stopping ourselves."
That stopping themselves scenario played out in the final drive on a fumbled center-quarterback exchange between Zach Frazier and Fields in the final two minutes, putting the Steelers in a second-and-22 situation at their own 30-yard line with just 1:14 remaining that they couldn't dig out of.
The offense eventually turned the ball over on downs in the final seconds of the game, resulting in their first loss.
"It was my fault," said Fields after the game of the play. "We were on the first leg kick and Zach was IDing stuff, telling the offensive line where to go. I felt the DBs rotating, and he was IDing stuff, telling the offensive line where to go.
"I was just trying to get that final picture before the snap came. So, at the end of the day, it's on the first leg kick. After I kicked my leg, I've got to be ready for the ball no matter when it's going to come or not. So, it's on me."
Bringing you the action: For fans who don't want to miss any of the action, NFL+ is here, which means you can now watch the Steelers live and on the go! Watch live local and primetime regular season games on mobile, plus NFL RedZone, NFL Network, live audio and more - all in one place.
