ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - At times, the defensive effort was representative of "walking dead," in head coach Mike Tomlin's estimation.
At times, Tomlin added, what resistence the Steelers offered up in their 43-19 preseason loss to the Bills was "quite disturbing."
It'll get that way when the opponent completes 30 of 33 passes, converts 11 of 14 third downs (79 percent) and gains 542 total net yards.
Check out the highlight photos from the Steelers vs Bills game.
Much of what troubled Tomlin involved the response of players fighting for roster spots.
But the Bills were also able to run for 41 yards to the Steelers' 2-yard line on their first offensive snap and throw a pass for 67 yards and a touchdown the sixth time they hiked the ball.
Those two big plays came against a varsity defense that was missing defensive end Stephon Tuitt, linebacker Lawrence Timmons and safety Mike Mitchell.
"It's unacceptable," defensive end Cam Heyward maintained. "We understand there are going to be mistakes but we have to be better than that.
"Hopefully we can grow from this and not let it happen again."
Added safety Shamarko Thomas: "It definitely hurts. Our defense, we expect a lot more out of ourselves. I'm happy it happened in the preseason so we can learn from it."
