The Pittsburgh Steelers’ day at work in Chicago went worse than Ferris Bueller’s principal’s. 

Come to think of it, wasn’t his last name Rooney? That fits.

We should be used to that by now, shouldn’t we? After a 31-28 defeat at Soldier Field by the Bears, the Steelers are 1-13 all-time in Chicago. They keep coming up with creative ways to blow games in the Windy City.

This one really hurt. Not just in terms of how they lost but what it means for the standings. Because, to paraphrase Ferris, life is moving pretty fast in the AFC North.

Let’s recap everything that went awry in this week’s “Airing of Grievances.”

Deep thoughts: The deep ball was nonexistent for the Steelers’ passing game.

Starting for injured quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph’s first pass came on second-and-1 on the team’s first possession. It was underthrown, and DK Metcalf lost a jump-ball battle with Nahshon Wright along the sideline. Wright came away with a spectacular interception.

That was nasty, @nahwrig ????

????: CBS pic.twitter.com/czclXbpp9O

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 23, 2025

Wright also nearly picked off a deep ball down the same sideline in the third quarter that was intended for Roman Wilson. However, Wilson made a nice play and knocked the ball away before Wright could secure a second interception.

At one point in the fourth quarter, CBS flashed a graphic that showed Rudolph was 14 for 14 for 94 yards on passes under 10 air-yards. He was only 1 for 4 for 21 yards on passes over 10 air-yards.

Rudolph only had 81 passing yards through three quarters and 171 for the game.

Safety last: The Steelers’ safeties had an adventure during the game.

D.J. Moore shook Jalen Ramsey on the Bears’ first touchdown at the goal line. Then tight end Colston Loveland did the same thing to Kyle Dugger on the second scoring hookup from quarterback Caleb Williams.

Caleb Williams to DJ Moore!

PITvsCHI on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/38ZilJPasZ

— NFL (@NFL) November 23, 2025

Williams to Loveland! @ChicagoBears tie it up

PITvsCHI on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/jMXJ5eG5p9

— NFL (@NFL) November 23, 2025

Dugger also dropped a sure interception late in the first half. That drive resulted in a Bears field goal before halftime, and the Steelers ended up losing by three points.

Can’t do it all: Through much of the game, the Steelers managed to contain Chicago’s talented running game.

It was No. 2 in the NFL at 146.6 yards per contest at the start of the week but walked away with just 95 yards on the ground. Plus, 36 of those yards were from Williams and receiver Luther Burden.

The Steelers countered with 186 rushing yards.

Williams, though, had his way passing. He was sacked just once (which resulted in a defensive TD), and his receivers seemed to have plenty of wide-open space to roam during patterns downfield and over the middle.

His final stats were 19 of 35 for 239 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 104.3.

“They got the ball in the middle. We weren’t able to get pressure. He got the ball clean and effectively to his receivers,” linebacker T.J. Watt said. “A lot of second-and-longs that I can remember, that turned into either third-and-shorts, or were converted from second and long. Same story. We’ve got to get off the field.”

The most egregious blown coverage occurred on Moore’s second touchdown.

TWICE AS NICE

DJ Moore finds the end zone for the second time today pic.twitter.com/MgYW2yhyPR

— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) November 23, 2025

It’s possible some of the defensive players let up when they saw that offside flag. If so, that’s no excuse.

Steelers spiral: Things unraveled late in the fourth quarter for the Steelers, down 31-28.

• Let’s start with 2 minutes, 20 seconds remaining on second-and-4 from their own 28-yard line. Despite having no luck on deep-ball go routes all day, the Steelers took a downfield shot to Wilson that fell incomplete.

• On the ensuing third-and-4, Rudolph scrambled for 22 yards, but the play was negated by a penalty. The following third-and-9 pass was also incomplete.

• Tomlin decided to punt on fourth down. The punt only netted 33 yards.

• Though the Steelers did get the ball back at their own 20-yard line, they had no timeouts with less than 90 seconds left.

• On a third down from the Bears’ 49-yard line, with only 39 seconds left, Rudolph threw a pass. But it only gained 2 yards, and Metcalf was tackled in bounds.

You can’t throw the ball short of the sticks and in the field of play in that situation with no timeouts. You just can’t. It’s stupid.

• Tomlin elected to go for it on fourth down instead of running out Chris Boswell for a 64-yard field goal. Rudolph’s final pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage, ending the game.

Tomlin defended his decision to punt.

“I was holding all three (timeouts), and, as you can see, we got the ball back,” Tomlin said.

OK. Sure.

But if, as stated above, you didn’t want to — or were unable to — throw the ball downfield with Rudolph, you can’t budget for making up that much yardage with so little time when you are unlikely to get chunk plays through the air.

Tomlin refused to answer if he would’ve tried Boswell from that far out if he had his final timeout.

“I’m not into the hypothetical world,” Tomlin said.

Well, if they had run a different play on third down that at least got a player to the sideline, it wouldn’t have been a hypothetical.

Make it make sense: The Steelers lost their third timeout as they were about to force the Bears to punt with 1:36 left.

They lost that timeout when James Pierre got hurt trying to get off the field during a stopped clock following an incompletion.

Why the rules state that a team loses a timeout with a stopped clock is nonsense. I’m not sure what advantage is gained there. That seems unnecessary to me.

With Baltimore’s 23-10 win over the New York Jets, the Steelers fell back into a first-place tie with the Ravens. Baltimore currently has the divisional tie-breaker. The teams play Dec. 7.

Next week, the Steelers have to host the Buffalo Bills.

“We just have to come back and work next week. Work harder than we did the previous week,” running back Kenny Gainwell said. “It’s frustrating. But, at the same time, we just have to come back to work and get a win on the board.”

Baltimore hosts the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday.

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