THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY

Regrets, they have a few.

After missing the playoffs for the first time since 2013, they aren’t too few to mention.

The Steeler players knew that there was more than just a couple that got away. With the first day of the offseason beginning for the Steelers it was the games against Denver, Oakland and the Los Angeles Chargers were three of the games that the Steelers should have won and didn’t.

“Yeah, there was more than just a couple,” guard David DeCastro acknowledged today, the first day of the offseason for the Steelers. “Denver, Oakland, games like that, Los Angeles was close. These were some of the games  definitely should have won but a couple plays here and there, that’s all it takes in the NFL and you never know when they’re coming.

It was just a tough stretch in the last half of the season that kept the Steelers from getting over the hump.

The Steelers appeared well on their way to qualifying for the postseason when they reeled off a six-game winning streak from Oct. 7 through Nov. 18 that improved their overall record to 7-2-1. But they were only able to win two of their final six games and ended up 9-6-1.

Included in their limp to the finish were road losses to the Broncos (who finished 6-10) and the Raiders (4-12).

There was also a 33-30 loss to the Chargers on Dec. 2 at Heinz Field, a game in which the Steelers had led 23-7 at halftime.

The Ravens won the AFC North Division championship at 10-6.

The AFC’s two wild card entrants into the playoffs are the Chargers (12-4) and the Colts (10-6).

I think that game they hurt the Steelers the most was the one against the Chargers. The Steelers had a

 Double-digits lead going into the second half and they left that game get away. If the Steelers could have closed out that game they could be looking at a different type of situation.

The Steelers lost to the Raiders the week after they lost to the Chargers.

They also failed to put the Browns away in the opener when Cleveland was coming off of a winless 2017 season.

The Steelers led 21-7 midway through the fourth quarter but ultimately settled for a 21-21 tie.

The first game was at Cleveland and it sticks in your mine because it was the first game of the year.

Some of the players offered that immediate aftermath of the Steelers’ 16-13 win over Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon in the regular-season finale. The next game that comes to mine was at Denver, because that game was more on the offense then the defense. A Roethlisberger pass for wide receiver Antonio Brown was intercepted in the end zone on third-and-goal from the Broncos’ 2-yard line with 1:07 left in regulation and the Steelers trailing, 24-17, on Nov. 25 in Denver.

As in any sports you don’t want to lose any game.

So every game that the Steelers loss they wish they could have had that game back. They lost some tough games. The Steelers lost some games that they should have won and there’s nothing they could do about it now. .