CHICAGO -- The Pittsburgh Steelers waltzed into Chicago hoping to prove they were a legit contender and once of the best teams in the AFC, but they fell short of that goal.
While the team dominated the depleted Bears linebacker room on the ground to much success, which should have been the expectation, a climax of woes still caused them to fall short of proving they are a top echelon football team.
Take their second to last drive for example. Instead of Mason Rudolph having a nearly 30 yard run, the Steelers instead were called for an illegal formation penalty. Two plays before that, Rudolph missed Roman Wilson on an open go ball. Then, Mike Tomlin called an inexplicable punt backed up before Corliss Waitman put together a poor punt.
Even on their final drive, the Steelers drive stalled out just past midfield, and they fell short by a field goal to lose the game 31-28.
Meanwhile, the defense reverted into the worst version of itself. Caleb Williams and the Bears had chances all game to make explosive plays, and it could have been much worse than it was if Williams and his receivers had not sprayed the ball all over the football field.
The predictable schematics and personnel deployment continue to fall short on both sides of the football. Pittsburgh is not a bad team by any measure, they can whoop on all the bad teams.
They can beat good teams, just look at their wins over the Colts and Patriots. Yet, there is nothing about this team that is elite or top of the line. The Steelers are just thoroughly mediocre.
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