Xtra Points: Injuries mount in loss

Painful loss: The injury list seemed to go on and on and on for the Steelers. One after another players headed to the sideline, including linebacker Ryan Shazier who left the game but returned playing through the pain.“I am definitely feeling a lot better,” said Shazier. “I tweaked (the knee) at the beginning of the game, but I am feeling a lot better.” The offensive line also suffered a blow when guard Ramon Foster left the game with a chest/elbow injury, and B.J. Finney stepped in. “I thought B.J. came in and did some really good things,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “You lose experience. You lose a guy that has played a lot of football games that (Maurkice) Pouncey knows, that Al (Villanueva) knows. But we say next guy up and B.J. did that.” In addition to Shazier and Foster, safety Robert Golden (hamstring), wide receiver Eli Rogers (foot), safety Mike Mitchell (knee) and linebacker Ryan Shazier (lower leg) were all injured. Timmons was taken to the hospital, but was on his way back at game’s end. “Those injures aren’t the reason why we performed,” said Tomlin. “We had 11 on the grass on every snap. The 11 on the grass didn’t get it done. We accept responsibility for that.” **Complete loss:** Wide receiver Markus Wheaton returned to action for the first time this season, coming off a shoulder injury, but struggled. Wheaton was thrown to five times but had only one reception, for two yards. The biggest miss came on the Steelers first drive when Wheaton missed on what could have been a touchdown grab. But there was no finger pointing, no putting the blame on one person. “We are not going to get down on him,” said Roethlisberger. “He knows he should and can make that play. There is enough thumb pointing that needs to go on. That begins with me. That was an offensive, defensive and special teams loss.” Bright side: There aren’t a lot of bright spots when you lose in the manner the Steelers did, but you can’t take away what receiver Antonio Brown did. Brown had 12 receptions for 140 yards, but numbers are just that when you don’t come out of the stadium with a win. A strong leg: Jordan Berry continues to show off his strong leg. Berry averaged 50 yards on three punts, including a 63-yard punt, to continue on the strong season he has had to date.

Postgame Takes

Xtra Points: Injuries mount in loss