Possession down issues: The Steelers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-13, at Lincoln Financial Field, but despite the loss clinched a playoff berth based on the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts losing on Sunday. The Dolphins lost to the Houston Texans, while the Colts lost to the Denver Broncos.
There were no celebrations for earning a playoff spot, but instead a resolve to bounce back on Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens.
"First, I want to compliment the Eagles on a hard-fought victory," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "But as I just told the team in there tonight, we didn't coach as well as we'd like, and we didn't play as well as we'd like. It's such a fine line at this level.
"If you just look at this game, we had a penalty going in that forced us to settle for a field goal. We turned the ball over on the short field and got no points. There were several possessions downs on defense where we had opportunities to tackle ball carriers in the flat and we missed those tackles and that produced extended drives and those points.
"And so, that's life in our business. It's not anything mystical. It's very fundamental. We've got to play disciplined. We've got to secure the ball. We've got to tackle. And we didn't do some of those fundamental things well enough tonight to secure victory.
"Although it (stinks), we learn, and we proceed and move forward."
Quarterback Russell Wilson completed only 14 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown, while Najee Harris had only six carries for 14 yards and a fumble that the Eagles recovered and converted into a touchdown, changing the momentum.
"We started slow, but again, you got to give some credit to those guys," said Tomlin of the offense. "I wasn't necessarily overly concerned about the start. The starts are not going to define us. But again, I think largely when you look at the big picture, there's those fundamental things I outlined."
While the Steelers offense wasn't able to get rolling, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 25 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns.
"I just thought that we didn't win enough possession downs," said Tomlin. "They possessed the ball. Like I mentioned, we didn't tackle well enough and that's life."
From an injury standpoint, three players left the game and didn't return, including linebacker T.J. Watt, cornerback Donte Jackson and quarterback Justin Fields.
"From a health standpoint, Justin Fields had an abdominal injury," said Tomlin. "Don't know the extent of that. On that slide he injured his abdominal. Donte Jackson had a back injury and wasn't able to return. T.J. had an ankle. I think that can be described as a low ankle at this juncture. But I'll have more information for you the next time we get together."
Too many third-and-longs: There were a lot of storylines in Sunday's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but the one quarterback Russell Wilson kept pointing to after the game was the inability for the Steelers to be successful on first and second down.
The Steelers faced third-and-long too many times, including multiple third-and-18 situations, a third-and-20 and a third-and-22.
"In the first half, we had way too many third-and-longs," said Wilson. "It's hard to try to play winning football that way.
"We weren't successful on first or second down. That's why we had so many third-and-longs. We've got to be successful on first and second down to get positive plays.
"They did a good job. That's a good football team. We have to tip our hats to them. They played way better than us tonight.
"It's unacceptable how we played. I think we've got to be sharper. We've just got to stay the course and know that obviously we got a big week coming up. We've got to respond, and we've got to get ready to go. And that's where our focus has to be."
Staying the course and responding will be the key. The Steelers have another big test this week when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens. The Steelers are 10-4, and one game ahead of the Ravens, 9-5, in the AFC North.
"We'll have to determine how great we can be," said Wilson. "There's a lot more football left. I think we have the right guys. Any great team has to respond. You're going to have adversity. You're going to have ups and downs of the season.
"I think the biggest thing is for us, when the games are in striking distance, we've got to tie it up. We've got to make plays. We got to find a way. And unfortunately, we didn't do that tonight. We can't flinch. We've got to get better, and we've got to be cleaner for this week going on the road."
Wilson knows getting a playoff berth is a key for the team, but it's not the number one goal. Winning the division is the first step, and then the rest follows from there.
And coming out with a strong showing in Baltimore will be a must.
"This is a great thing for us and that's our expectation," said Wilson of making the playoffs. "But we want to win this division. That's our first goal, to win the division.
"We have a lot of respect for this division, the teams, coaches and the players in this division. At the same time, we got to go take it. We got to go find a way on the road in Baltimore, which we know is going to be a great football game.
"I think the biggest thing is it's just we have to do whatever it takes to win. And that's really all that matters, is finding ways to win, especially in high level competition."
Plenty of football to play: Over the past few months, one of the things the Steelers have taken pride in is playing complementary football, with all three phases striking at the same time.
In Sunday's loss to the Eagles, that just didn't happen. And it wasn't just one area where the struggles were.
"I think we didn't get off the field enough on defense, offensive wise not enough points," said defensive tackle Cameron Heyward. "Missed plays for splash on all sides of the ball. I thought our special teams played well. Defense and offense below the line.
"We've got to learn from it. We're not afforded a lot of time. We've got to have a memory like a goldfish. We've got to move on. Not to say we don't respect who we just played. The clock is ticking. Guys have got to get right. We've got to learn from our mistakes and move on."
The team is able to move on with the knowledge that they secured a playoff berth, but just making the postseason isn't enough.
They want more.
"There's bigger fish to fry," said Heyward. "We're not just trying to squeeze into the playoffs. It's nice to know that we don't have to wait until Week 18 to figure out if we're in the playoffs or not.
"We have a playoff team. We've known that before this game. We played a quality playoff opponent. We didn't have our best showing, but there's a lot of ball in front of us. But I'd like to get this thing going the right way."
The Steelers will have the opportunity to do that on Saturday when they take on the Ravens on the road, a game that has major implications in the AFC North.
"We've got AFC North championship ball in front of us," said Heyward. "We knew we were walking into some tough games ahead, but we're not afforded a lot of time to feel sorry for ourselves.
"We have a chance to play an MVP caliber team with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. That team is really good. And with this quick turnaround, it's not circling the wagons. It's let's get it together because we've got to get going. Not a lot of time is afforded to us."
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