5 Things from Steelers-Bears

By: Donny Chedrick

The Steelers 23-17 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears was a classic case of a Mike Tomlin team playing down to an underachieving opponent. It what was a very interesting Sunday in the NFL full of upsets and kneel downs that didn't celebrate a victory. It wasn't pretty and it sets up a Week 4 showdown between the Steelers and Ravens in Baltimore with first place in the AFC North on the line. But before we get to that, let's take a look at five things from the loss in Chicago.

1. Alejandro Villanueva stands alone:

Photo creds to PennLive.com

Given what happened over the past weekend with President Donald Trump calling out NFL owners and players, as well as those in other major professional sports, it made kneeling for the National Anthem more prominent than ever as several players and owners from around the league did a different representation of themselves during the Star Spangled Banner. The Steelers decided to not be present for the National Anthem by staying in the locker room and standing in the tunnel. However, one Steeler stood out on the field alone - former Army Ranger and starting left tackle, Alejandro Villanueva. Because of this, Villanueva personally feels as if he embarrassed his teammates, but he was a symbol to Americans that still wanted to stand for the National Anthem. Whatever your stance is, it doesn't matter. Alejandro Villanueva is an American hero.

2. Marcus Gilbert was missed

Photo creds to Behind the Steel Curtain

Moving to the other offensive tackle, and what proved to be one of the biggest injuries of the young season was Marcus Gilbert missing this game. After the first two weeks of the regular season, Gilbert was arguably the most underrated player on the Steelers' roster, especially considering his rating from Pro Football Focus. The absence of Gilbert in Chicago proved apparent due to the lackluster performance from Chris Hubbard. Hubbard's struggles in the run game and in pass protection caused issues all afternoon for the Steelers on offense, but the trenches were not a friendly place to the Steelers this past weekend.

3. Got dominated in the trenches:

Photo creds to ESPN.com

I know that Stephon Tuitt was out again, but the defensive line doesn't get out of this conversation given the awful performance  Sunday afternoon. Quite frankly the run defense, in general, deserves to get punished after what fans witnessed in Chicago. The Bears rushed for 220 yards including just waltzing down the field in overtime. Chicago had nine runs that went for 10 yards or more and had four runs go for nearly 20 a pop with some being longer. The defensive effort was poor against the run considering Bears' QB Mike Glennon barely threw for 100 yards. Tackling needs to be addressed and figured out with a hard-hitting game against Baltimore coming up Sunday.

4. Lev Bell is almost out of time:

Photo creds to SB Nation 

Three games into the year and I'm saying that RB Le'Veon Bell is out of time might not make sense, but considering all of his antics over the course of the off-season, the pressure seems to be getting to his head. For the third consecutive, Bell has struggled to find his holes like he did so well last season. He looks out of sync, and he is often found trying to force himself into big runs but ends up running into the back of his linemen or his fullback. Bell broke several big runs last season, and I'mnot t say those won't come, but he had just one run of 13 yards being his longest of the afternoon against the Bears. Emerging more in the run game will make things easier for Ben Roethlisberger and help get this offense in motion.

Photo creds to SFgate

5. Vance McDonald and Jordan Berry deserve praise:In what was a play that every player on the field for the Steelers could have given up on, there were two guys that never gave up on a blocked Chris Boswell field goal at the end of the first half. You can say that Marcus Cooper gave up too early on a play that looked like an easy TD for Chicago heading into the locker room, but Vance McDonald and Jordan Berry did everything they could to make sure that would not happen. The Steelers didn't win the game, but the hustle that McDonald and Berry displayed on that play speaks volumes of their effort, and it is a play every football coach out there should show to their team.

It was an ugly Sunday for the Steelers, but a bounce back is needed and fast as the Steelers head to Baltimore for a clash that will decide the leader in the AFC North. After both teams suffered embarrassing losses in Week 3, they will look forward to an old-time battle on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.