Never overlook your opponent and start talking about playing New England ahead of time, especially when you lost to your opponent earlier in the season by 21 points on your home field. Wonder what excuse Tomlin had for this one.  

You think the Steelers lost yesterday because they "talked" about playing the Patriots prior to playing Jacksonville?? Come on. What, were the Steelers game-planning for the Patriots for 2 weeks straight? Did Le'veon Bell not bust his ass yesterday because he was saving himself for the Patriots? Did Mike Mitchell not run hard to ball because he was saving himself for the Patriots? Ben had 470 yards passing and 5 TD's..... Was he saving himself for the Pats? These are professional athletes---The Steelers were ready to play and at the end of the day they lost by 3 points. Shit happens.  

They lost yesterday for a myriad of on the field reasons.  One, is that Todd Haley's play calling was horrible. He forgot that Jacksonville's weakness is stopping the run. Bell should have more than 16 rushing attempts. On 4th and 1 early in the game he runs a sweep (allowing Jacksonville's speed to come into play) instead of smashing it up the middle. On another 4th and 1 he calls for a pass---not good.  Run the damn ball between the tackles. Two, the Steelers defense couldn't make ONE critical stop when they had to.  It was an uphill battle the whole game and they needed to play perfect defensively, especially  in the second 1/2 to give their offense a chance--and the defense didn't come close to doing so. Third, while we are on the subject of horrible defense, they couldn't get to Bortles at all--- Didn't sack him (barely touched him) and didn't make him uncomfortable enough in the pocket to turn him over.  Also, the defense forced only one negative play in all of Jacksonville's rushes. Finally, The jags won the turn over battle (2-0). The Jags 2 turnovers led to 14 points (one directly on the fumble return) and in a 3 point game, there is your difference. Mike Tomlin also made a stupid decision to try the onside kick when you had 2 Timeouts and the 2 minute warning. Kick the ball deep. He basically handed the Jags their final 3 points.  

But the bottom line is that it is REALLY HARD to win in the NFL. It just wasn't the Steelers day yesterday. And that's what kills me. When you have a game in your building, and are one game from the AFC Championship game, you have to find a way to get it done--- And it is beyond frustrating not to do so. Football is so unpredictable year to year and when you are in a position to potentially go to a SB, you have to seize the moment.  

But you don't lose because you are talking about another potential opponent a few days prior to kickoff.  You lose because playoff football is a brutal and cruel end game--it's one and done--And sometimes its not your day and you go home. And that's what happened to the Steelers on Sunday.

But in my opinion, the Steelers were looking past Jacksonville toward playing the Patriots again and, as a result, they were not prepared. If they had prepared properly, they would not have given up 45 points, and committed all the blunders that you pointed out. I've seen it happen at all levels, in all sports, from high school to the pros. Take care of the team in front of you before you start looking ahead, and don't give the other team bulletin board material.

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You can lose games badly or give up a ton of points and still have been "prepared" to play.  The other team just executed better.  The Steelers/Ravens played a high scoring game earlier this year. These two teams know each other as well as any two teams--- Yet the offenses were just executing at a high level---But I would never say either team was not prepared to play...

Bulletin board material at the professional level is overrated. What extra motivation could you possibly have than reaching the SB?  You are not "trying" harder because you feel you were disrespected prior to kickoff

Now, I certainly can't discredit your opinion that the Steelers overlooked Jacksonville and that they were unprepared to play any more than you can discredit my opinion that the Steelers were prepared to play and simply got out executed on too many critical sequences when they were trying to get back in the game.  

But the bottom line for me is that I just can't fathom how the Steelers scored 42 points and still were never really in the game from the start...  

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