Steelers Pummeled 38-3; Reaction To Humiliating Loss To Bills

PITTSBURGH, PA — You have to go back more than three decades to find a more embarrassing and lopsided defeat suffered by the Steelers Sunday at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. They lost 51-0 in a 1989 game against the Cleveland Browns.

That doesn't make the sting of the 38-3 thrashing they received any easier to bear. And with upcoming games against Tampa Bay, Miami and Philadelphia, the Steelers could enter the bye week with a 1-7 record.

Here's what sports writers across the county are saying about the blowout loss:

• Brooke Pryor, ESPN: "Where do the Steelers go from here? It's only Week 5, but at 1-4, the Steelers seem destined to give Mike Tomlin his first losing season. With games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles on the slate before the bye, the Steelers face the very real possibility of starting the season 1-7 -- something that hasn't happened in Pittsburgh since 1969. The Steelers don't believe in rebuilding years, but that's exactly how this one is playing out."

• Nick Shook, NFL.com: "Pittsburgh misses T.J. Watt dearly. As the Bills bombarded the Steelers through the air Sunday, Watt's absence became painfully evident. Pittsburgh registered just three QB pressures as a team, failed to sack Allen, and watched the Bills rack up over 500 yards of offense. What was once a strength for the Steelers is now a weakness, making the going difficult for an offense trotting out a rookie quarterback behind an inconsistent offensive line that hasn'tbeen able to provide nearly enough balance to insulate Kenny Pickett."

• John Breech, CBS Sports: "Pittsburgh struggled in all three phases. The defense struggled to get off the field, failed to put pressure on Josh Allen (who was pressured just one time), lost one-on-one matchups and did a subpar job in open field tackling. The offense mostly came up short onpossession downs, did not make enough clutch plays and failed to make enough of the simple plays. The Steelers special teams followed suit with a muffed kickoff in the first quarter and a missed field goal in the second and third quarters."

• Sal Maiorana, USA Today: "Imagine what Mean Joe Greene, Jack Lambert and Mel Blount must have been thinking Sunday afternoon if they happened to be watching their beloved Pittsburgh Steelers getting eviscerated by Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Those Hall of Famers, part of the famed Steel Curtain defense during the Steelers dynasty years in the 1970s, must have been mortified as Bills receivers ran through the secondary as if they were infected by some contagious disease the Pittsburgh defenders weren’t vaccinated against."

• Noah Stackbrien, Sports Illustrated: "Offensive coordinator Matt Canada has been an issue for the Steelers the last two seasons. At no point has he shown capable offensive play-calling ability, using the quarterback as the scapegoat for a year and a half...It's hitting the point of staring the worst offense in the NFL in the eyes for Pittsburgh. They don't have the talent to make this unit great, but you certainly have enough going on to be successful."

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