Steelers prove they aren’t contenders with awful tie to Lions

The Pittsburgh Steelers definitely aren’t legitimate contenders after tying the winless Detroit Lions.

Playing without Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t going to be easy for the Pittsburgh Steelers but they delivered an absolutely dreadful performance against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Despite entering this game with an 0-8 record, the Lions gave the Steelers everything they could handle in a 16-16 tie, which is more of a reflection of Pittsburgh’s poor play than any outstanding effort from Detroit.

Evaluating the offense without Roethlisberger today probably isn’t fair, but it is worth mentioning that Pittsburgh couldn’t get anything going against a Lions’ defense that entered the day giving up 30.5 points per game. The vaunted Steelers’ defense was also gashed on the ground by the Lions, who averaged only 93 yards per game rushing, for 229 yards on 39 carries.

The Steelers definitely aren’t legitimate contenders

Sunday’s performance is just the latest poor effort from the Steelers, who struggled mightily against the Chicago Bears on Monday night in Week 9 despite getting tremendous assistance from poor calls that went in their favor. The fact that Pittsburgh couldn’t handle a Lions team where Jared Goff was absolutely inept in terms of passing doesn’t fare well for their chances against more elite passers down the stretch.

The fact that the Steelers are still 5-4 and alive speaks more to the mediocre nature of the AFC’s Wild Card race, but other teams around Pittsburgh are starting to play better. New England has been clicking with four straight wins while the AFC West’s crop of five-win teams all look more dynamic than Pittsburgh at this point.

The schedule isn’t favorable for the Steelers either since they still have seven games left against teams with records of .500 or better, including dates with the Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs. The only losing team on Pittsburgh’s schedule is the Minnesota Vikings, who have shown they can beat anybody if they play their best game, making that contest far from a guarantee.

The most likely scenario here is a slow fade out of contention to Pittsburgh that won’t be pretty to watch thanks to an anemic offense. The first losing record in the Mike Tomlin era could also be in play thanks to the Steelers’ brutal schedule.