Steelers Struggling to Finish: Halftime Leads Vanish as Second-Half Woes Continue
In the NFL, it’s not how you start - it’s how you finish. And right now, the Pittsburgh Steelers are learning that lesson the hard way.
If games ended at halftime, the Steelers would be sitting pretty at 8-4. But as Mike Tomlin knows all too well, football is a 60-minute game. And lately, Pittsburgh’s been playing only 30 of them.
Sunday’s 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills was the latest chapter in a frustrating trend. The Steelers led 7-3 at the break, only to surrender 23 unanswered points in the second half - a collapse that’s becoming all too familiar. It marked the fourth time this season Pittsburgh has lost a game after leading at halftime, joining previous heartbreakers against the Seahawks, Packers, and Bears.
Tomlin didn’t mince words when asked about the team’s second-half struggles.
“We’re not putting together 60 minutes of action,” he said. “There are some tangible things you and I both see, but we’d better look at it hard, because there’s usually something beneath the surface that’s producing that - especially with how consistently it’s happening.
The third quarter was awful. It was awful last week.
We’ve got to absorb the responsibility of that.”
He’s right - the numbers back it up. Against Seattle, Pittsburgh led 14-7 at halftime before getting outscored in the second half.
Same story against Green Bay (up 16-7), and again versus Chicago (up 21-17). In all four games, the Steelers came out of the locker room flat, and the opposition pounced.
So what’s going wrong after halftime?
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who’s taken on a leadership role in this veteran group, pushed back on the notion that halftime adjustments - or a lack thereof - are the issue.
“There’s not a whole lot that happens at halftime,” Rodgers explained. “There are conversations between myself and the linemen, and conversations from position coaches.
Coordinators talk, but there aren’t wholesale changes that need or should be made. It’s more about little adjustments - things you like, openers for the second half.”
Then came the key line: “But players, we’ve got to take accountability for our performance.”
That accountability piece might be the heart of the problem. The Steelers aren’t being out-schemed - they’re being out-executed.
The third quarter, in particular, has been a consistent trouble spot. Whether it’s missed assignments, breakdowns in protection, or lapses in defensive discipline, Pittsburgh has repeatedly allowed momentum to swing hard in the wrong direction.
And once the slide starts, they haven’t been able to stop it.
For a team built on toughness and discipline, that’s a tough pill to swallow. Tomlin’s squads are known for resilience and grit, but right now, the second half is where that identity is disappearing.
With the playoff picture tightening, the margin for error is shrinking. The Steelers still have the talent to make a push, but they’ll need to figure out how to close out games - and fast.
Because in the NFL, halftime leads don’t count. Only the final scoreboard does.