How many of our playoff losses

over the last decade were the steelers the better team?be honest. Take off the black and gold glasses. Ignore your base instincts and answer a very simple question truthfully.

Steelers w/ Rudolph against the bills? Only way they win that game is by playing perfectly.
Steelers vs chiefs? No
Steelers vs browns? This is the only one imo where we were the better team. Sadly ben and pouncey royally screwed that up
Steelers vs jags? Jags were top 10 in offense and defense that year. Once again ben had a multiple turnover game

 

Bills I believe the postponing hurt and I firmly stand that having MINKAH STINKAH play after being out fkd the unity that had developed in his absence. He suckedass that game, also with better play of course

chiefs postponing again

I'll throw in the AB snapshatjivestream BS ahead of Pats.

 

You were supposed to be honest.

 

Ben having 5 tds 1 int and 100+ rating vs the jags and still losing at home is crazy to me idk.

 

I was. It was only by a fraction and at that particular moment of the season I believed the team was a tad above the opponent.

 

Main issue I have is allowing 36 ppg average points in the last 6 playoff losses.

 

Thats great! Youve responded twice and neither time could you answer the question

 

and 470 passing yards against the number 1 pass defense but out sorry defense did nothing from the start(opening drive TD for the Jaguars) to finish(17 points for the jaguars in the fourth quarter)....The Jaguars had also only 10 points against a weak Buffalo team in the wild card round

 

and down by 21 points every game,a NFL record by a team who will never be broken

 

Out of the past 6 losses maybe patriots at home, chiefs, and Bills we were underdogs. Steelers playoff losses are almost over in the first quarter, if not by halftime. non competitive at all.

 

A lot of that was because our Ahole HC did not have the D prepared and Ben had to sling it just to try and get us back in game.

 

Browns and Jags and IMO we were a strong contender for SB when Jags beat us.

 

Ben and AB had such a crazy great game who have been wasted by our sorry defense

 

Isn't that the Jags game after Shazier got hurt and then the Steelers had zero competent NFL LBers or safeties?

If it is the game I am thinking of that....sucked....but there was nothing anyone could've done. I dimly remember the entire defense gambling to stop the run. Failing to do so and then getting burned as they were out of position. Just felt like the players knew they were outmanned.

 

That is the one. It’s funny how many “fans” forget those very very very very very very minor details. They ignore Ben’s multiple turnovers, but praise his yards passing. Its really quite telling.

 

Well we now know you at least thought the jags were better despite your efforts to ignore the actual topic at hand

 

In 2 of 7 losses in the past decade Steelers were the better regular season team, in 2017 and 2020:

2015 Lost to Broncos 12-4, Steelers were 10-6 X
2016 Lost to Patriots 14.2, Steelers were 11-5 X
2017 Lost to Jaguars 10-6, Steelers were 13-3
2020 Lost to Browns 11-5, Steelers were 12-5
2021 Lost to Chiefs 12-5, Steelers were 9-7-1 X
2023 Lost to Bills 11-6, Steelers were 10-7 X
2024 Lost to Ravens 12-5, Steelers were 10-7 X

 

Yeah, I was gonna say this. He screwed up early, but balled out the rest of the way.

 

We were better than the Jags and lost at home. Idc if they were ranked high in offense, they had Bortles as their QB. We had to stop Fournette and didn't. We were better than the Browns (who didn't have thier HC for the game) and lost at home. Baker turned out to be an NFL caliber player, but he's still not a great QB to have lost to at home. Out game planned and down 21-0 and 28-0 in those games respectively.

We were a lot worse than the Chiefs. That's really the only one I give a free pass to. We probably win that game 1 out of 10 times. The Bills game we weren't the better team, but we also weren't way overmatched. We had a good defensive unit and good offensive playmakers. We could have won that, but I would admit we were underdogs.

I think we were pretty even with the Ravens the year we lost to them. The reason why it felt so rough was because we were in the middle of an end of the year collapse. We had the division in hand and blew it, only to come out and lose in a very similar fashion to how we did against the Browns and Jags.

I don't really like the premise of excusing playoff losses because we are underdogs. Postseason games aren't always won by the better team. While heavy favorites win a bit over 2/3's of the time, moderate to slight dogs cover nearly 60% of the time (win less than 50%, but its not a massive thing). Sitting here and being okay with not winning any of the five previous playoff games (technically 6 since we got spanked by the Pats in the AFCCG, again, to end the last run we made) because we weren't favorites in all of them. Underdogs win games. Heck, our last playoff win was a game where we were underdogs (a game in KC that we handled with FG's at 18-16 in a game we statistically dominated).

It all boils down to winning the TO battle. We've only lost 1 playoff game where we win the turnover battle since the 2002 playoff game against the Titans (13 year old me was DEVASTATED that Nedney's flop got the call in OT), and that was the KC game where we were heavy dogs. Conversely, we've only lost 1 playoff game where we win the turnover battle since our SB win against Seattle (that was the NYJ AFCCG at home). We've lost the turnover battle 2-12 in the 6 game playoff slide. Offense averaging 2 a game and defense not performing, despite being a high turnover forcing team during that span. Rushing yards apparently matter a lot too, since we're 2-7 in games where we get out rushed since (and including) the Tebow game in Denver in 2011... and 3-2 in the games we out rush the opponent in the same span. We haven't out rushed our playoff opponent since our last playoff win in KC in 2016.

 

You forgot Ben had a fumble that was returned for a TD.

 

Were the Steelers really better than the Jags that year they kicked the Steelers ass in the regular season in Pittsburgh. Fournette ran all through them and Ben threw 5 interceptions in that game. The Browns not having their HC for that playoff game meant nothing when the Steelers gave them 5 turnovers.

 

If you are seeking a non stressful no nail biter game then watch the Steelers in the first round of the playoffs and don’t expect much. I’m about done with getting worked up about it any more. I should probably take that approach this Sunday night. I’m sure that it will come down to a last second FG for either team though.

 

Yeah, we were 13-3... home field, won 10 of our last 11 (and if they called the Jesse James catch correctly, we would've won 11 straight and gotten the 1 seed). We were just as much the team to beat as NE was.

I was simply pointing out that we were 2 favorites, 2 underdogs, and one tight underdog to a team we were roughly exactly as good as.

 

Good post and information! I.agree about the Bills game...and an earlier poster who thought the delay hurt us. I don't think we were better, but we were coming in hot and Mason was connecting with Pickens & DJ regularly. The snow, I think, led us to a run-heavy plan and we thought they would have to run a lot, too. But the delay and clear fields let them throw it (against our SERIOUSLY) depleted D and we, of course, did not adjust our offense and were helpless to stop them on D. Despite pulling within 7 in the 4th in Buffalo, our D promptly collapsed and all hope was lost.

 

No we were not the better team. Good argument that coaching had a lot to do with that?
The real problem is the QB though. Until we get a true franchise QB we will probably continue to struggle. I also believe it’s time for a fresh start with a new Head Coach.