From Weeks 7-9, the Pittsburgh Steelers were playing at the top of their game. Everything was clicking and they won three in a row, bringing their record to 6-3. If the Steelers wouldn't have lost in the last few seconds to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh would've been 7-2 with an "easy" stretch coming up in their schedule. However, things tool a turn for the worse when the Steelers fell to the, let's say- struggling, New York Jets, The Steelers aren't a bad team, but they sure looked like one against the Jets.
Ben Roethlisberger and his receivers, particularly Antonio Brown and rookie Martavis Bryant, were really clicking on the three game win streak. However, against the Jets, the Steelers must have forgotten that they have two very talented running backs in Le'veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount. In Weeks 7-9, they ran the ball 21, 30, and 23 times, respectively. Against New York, they ran the ball only 16 times. Sure, Bell and Blount weren't exactly lighting it up, but it is still important to run the ball and make the defense respect the running game. If the Jets were more concerned about the run, maybe Big Ben Roethlisberger wouldn't have thrown two interceptions. To get back on track, the pass to run ratio should be something like 35 to 25 instead of 43 to 16.
Another thing that went wrong was the play calling. Too many times, the Steelers were throwing drop off screen passes into the thick of the defense. One of those little screens resulted in an Antonio Brown, which ended up as a touchdown for the Jets. Two different passes went for negative five yards each because the receiver was catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage, With the speed of guys like Brown, Bryant, and even Markus Wheaton, there is no reason the Steelers shouldn't be taking more shots down the field. Finally, with under two minutes left, Roethlisberger threw it long and Bryant caught it for an 80 yard touchdown, though it was too little too late. If Todd Haley would've tried three or four more long shots, the Steelers very easily could've won this game.
Lastly, the Steelers did not do a good job of applying the pressure on defense. The Steelers sacked opposing quarterbacks six times, had three interceptions, and forced three fumbles during the win streak. Against the Jets, the Steelers did have four sacks, but did not force any turnovers. And though they sacked Michael Vick four times, they also allowed him to rush for 39 yards. The defensive line didn't get too much pressure on Vick and when they did, they failed to bring him down. Without Vick extending several plays with his legs, Pittsburgh very likely could've won the game.
So, for the Steelers to get back on track, they need to improve in all three of these different areas. Mike Tomlin, Todd Haley, and Dick Lebeau need to do a better job of designing and calling plays, Playing an inferior opponent in Week 11, the Tennessee Titans, the Steelers should have no trouble getting a win if they fix some of the mistakes they made in Week 10.