After two consecutive wins, the Pittsburgh Steelers entered Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders with a chance to climb into second place ahead of the Cleveland Browns after they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as the Baltimore Ravens as they sit in their bye week.
Alas, a narrow 21-18 loss left them in last place in the AFC North Division at 2-5, and all the momentum they had just went down the drain.
Much of the blame can be placed on the normally reliable kicker Shaun Suisham. He had just been named the AFC special teams player for last week, but in a game that was decided by three points, he missed two short field goals from 34 and 32 yards.
Head coach Mike Tomlin wasn’t happy about that:
"“We lost the game by 3,” Tomlin said. “We missed two makeable field goals.”"
Suisham was 15/15 on the year prior to those two misses, and given the fragile nature of kickers and their confidence, this may be something to watch going forward.