Steelers refuse to point fingers after tough loss

PITTSBURGH -- On the left, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. On the right, receiver Santonio Holmes. The two Pittsburgh teammates had gotten together -- or rather, not gotten together -- on two of the biggest plays of the game Sunday, a pair of passes intended for Holmes but intercepted by Indianapolis.

The Colts turned both picks into short touchdown drives, one at the end of each half. If you're looking for a story line for the Steelers' 24-20 loss, you could do worse than that.

So there they stood, Roethlisberger and Holmes, two of the last players in the losing locker room. While the media waited to interview them, the Steelers' quarterback and receiver stood 10 feet apart. They didn't look at each other. Didn't talk. No communication whatsoever.

If you're looking for a metaphor for the Steelers' loss, you could do worse than that.

To his credit, Roethlisberger swallowed the blame whole, taking on the two interceptions meant for Holmes as well as the entire game.

"I lost the game, and it feels bad," he said.

And to his credit, Holmes refused to let Roethlisberger do it.

'I lost the game,' Ben Roethlisberger says after throwing four interceptions. (AP)

"Hey, plays happen," Holmes said. "It doesn't matter how it happened. There were some plays there, and if we're going to win the game, we've got to make them."

We, Holmes said. Not he.

In another room deep inside Heinz Field, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had predicted this very thing would happen. Minutes earlier, Tomlin had been asked about the disappointment the Pittsburgh defense must have been feeling to have played so well against Peyton Manning and his explosive Indianapolis offense, yet see the game slip away thanks to mistakes on offense.

Tomlin, referencing the question's inference of dissension, stuck out his chin -- literally, stuck it out -- and said, "You're not going to find that in this locker room."

And he was right. The only fingers being pointed inside the Pittsburgh locker room were the ones Roethlisberger aimed at himself, and none of his three leading receivers would hear it. You already heard from Holmes, but receiver Nate Washington said the Steelers love Roethlisberger's moxie, his belief that he can make any pass at any time, a belief that makes him one of the most enjoyable quarterbacks to watch, but surely one of the most frightening to play with.

"I love it," Washington said. "If you're the quarterback, I don't think you can play with too much confidence. I don't think it's a possibility."

In another conversation, Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward said much the same thing.

Meanwhile, Roethlisberger was close to tears after the Steelers' second loss in three games. Three weeks ago Pittsburgh had a two-game lead in the AFC North. Today, thanks to its recent 1-2 skid and the Baltimore Ravens' four-game winning streak, the teams are tied for first. And this particular loss to the Colts capped a week in which Roethlisberger had vowed to improve his play from the first half of the season, but then was barely able to practice because of a shoulder injury

"I'm a little emotional," Roethlisberger said.

While only the Steelers and their coaching staff know -- or will know, after studying film of the game -- what went wrong on the two interceptions, one looked like a bad pass while the other looked like a bad route. The first one, with 1:24 left in the first half, came with the Steelers leading 17-7 and facing a third-and-2 from their 16. The decision to throw at all was questionable, but that was the play call, and Roethlisberger made a bad pass -- under-throwing Holmes by several yards as Keiwan Ratliff picked it off.

"I didn't see (Ratliff) until it was too late," Roethlisberger said.

Holmes disgustedly snapped off both chinstrap buckles, and Manning made the Steelers pay. His 2-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Clark cut the deficit to 17-14 with six seconds left in the half.

Late in the fourth quarter, it was much the same. The Steelers led 20-17, but on third-and-short with 4:44 to play, the call was for a pass. Holmes ran a short route and cut inside, but just as Roethlisberger unleashed a pass, Holmes stopped running. Colts cornerback Tim Jennings intercepted, and Manning needed just four plays to find Dominic Rhodes out of the backfield for a 17-yard touchdown that made it 24-20.

Although it looked like Holmes cut off his route, Roethlisberger said the receiver "did what he was supposed to do."

"He's supposed to go inside and then go outside, and I forgot," Roethlisberger said.

Sounds dubious, but OK. Anyway, that's what leaders do. When they make a mistake, they blame themselves. When a teammate makes a mistake ... they blame themselves. It's called being a quarterback in the NFL.

By the time Roethlisberger finished his interview session, Holmes was gone. The locker room was almost empty. Roethlisberger stepped out into the hallway and found himself confronted with another part of an NFL quarterback's job description.

With red eyes, Roethlisberger stopped for a fan who was waving a camera phone and wanted nothing more than to have his picture taken with the Steelers' quarterback.