Whether Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner meant to, he essentially told us the only way the Miami Dolphins could possibly pull off an upset in the “Monday Night Football” game at Heinz Field.
Before the bye weekend hit, Fichtner was asked about improvements that the Steelers’ offense could make.
“We’ve got guys who want to be great,” Fichtner said. “It’s just a matter of doing the right things at the right time. I go back, if we just protect the football, I’d be assured we would’ve won more games.”
Ding, ding, ding! Give that man a prize!
Now, you may be saying, “Isn’t that a way for the offensive coordinator to just put it on the players and alleviate himself of blame for overly conservative game plans with the backup quarterbacks?”
You’d be right.
But he’s right, too. Especially when it comes to those trademark Steelers losses to inferior teams.
Maybe game-planning has been a reason those contests were kept close in the first place, but they were lost by ill-timed turnovers at crucial moments.
The Steelers have lost 10 games since the start of 2018, going 11-10-1 in that span. Of those 10 defeats (and tie), seven of them were directly tied to turnovers in the offensive red zone and/or crucial giveaways late in the second half in games.
• Steelers 21, Browns 21 (Sept. 9, 2018): Up 21-7, James Conner fumbles on his own 18 with 7:44 left on the first play of a fourth-quarter drive. The Cleveland Browns scored on the next play. Ben Roethlisberger fumbled twice more and Cleveland managed to escape with a tie.
• Broncos 24, Steelers 17 (Nov. 11, 2018): Where do we start on this one? Conner’s fumble near midfield with the game tied 17-17 on the last play of the third quarter?
Maybe Roethlisberger’s third-quarter pick thrown to Chris Harris that resulted in a touchdown two drives later?
Nah. Let’s go with Shelby Harris’ interception of Roethlisberger in the end zone to end the game.
Interception in the endzone by Shelby Harris to save the game for Denver! #PITvsDEN pic.twitter.com/kmJB4cP2ER
— Sports Daily (@SportsDGI) November 26, 2018
Or even Xavier Grimble’s infamous pylon fumble in the first half.
Xavier Grimble iba directo a la zona de anotación y lo convirtieron en gelatina. Fumble. pic.twitter.com/elC0TfUKbM
— NFL Latino TV (@NFLlatinoTV) November 25, 2018
Take your pick.
• Raiders 24, Steelers 21 (Dec. 9, 2018): As Ben Roethlisberger was returning from his extended trip to the mysterious Oakland X-ray machine, Josh Dobbs was throwing an interception at the team’s own 44-yard line with only seconds remaining in the third quarter.
• Saints 31 Steelers 28 (Dec. 23, 2019): JuJu Smith-Schuster fumbles at the New Orleans 35-yard line with :41 seconds left, down by a field goal.
The Saints force the fumble on JuJu Smith-Schuster to end the game
— Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) December 24, 2018
New Orleans clinches the #1 seed in the NFC pic.twitter.com/6vhJyPX3mw
• Seahawks 28, Steelers 26 (Sept. 15, 2019): Up a field goal, Donte Moncrief gifts an interception to the Seattle Seahawks on Mason Rudolph’s first career drive in the third quarter.
Donte Moncrief is riding the Seahawks +4pic.twitter.com/PpGwXNXNKg
— Safest Betting Sites (@SBS_Authority) September 15, 2019
Six plays later the Seahawks score a touchdown, take the lead and never give it back.
• 49ers 24, Steelers 20 (Sept 22, 2019): Conner strikes again. Another momentum-shifting fumble. Three plays after the Steelers were given the ball by the San Francisco 49ers on a fumble of their own, Conner gave it right back at his own 24-yard line with 5:20 remaining in the game.
San Francisco churned most of the time of the remaining clock and scored a touchdown to make it 24-20.
• Ravens 26, Steelers 23 (Oct. 6, 2019): JuJu 2.0.
Not a ton of fantasy takeaways in my Week 5 Tipping Points, so I'll highlight #Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey's game-winning forced fumble punch on JuJu Smith-Schuster. Charles Tillman would be proud. https://t.co/kWD5Re7NlT pic.twitter.com/aHN1M5NoIC
— Scott Spratt (@Scott_Spratt) October 8, 2019
Marlon Humphrey’s great strip of Smith-Schuster in overtime allowed Justin Tucker to kick a game-winning field goal in overtime.
As bad as the Dolphins may be — losing all six of their games and ranking in the bottom five of multiple categories on both sides of the ball — if the Steelers give the football back in the manner that they have in their other recent losses, even that hapless bunch could stay competitive in the game Monday night.
Or, dare I say, maybe even win it.
