PITTSBURGH – The Falcons trailed just three points at the half with a chance to get the ball at the start of the second half and take the lead for the first time all game.
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That drive ended with zero points and a 42-yard punt by Matt Bosher. On came quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of Pittsburgh's offense and 12 plays later, the Steelers had extended the lead, 20-10.
Then came a blocked punt and just like that, the Steelers scored again.
It was 27-10 before the Falcons knew it. Then it was 41-17.
And then it was the ball game.
Falcons head coach Dan Quinn pointed to a number of areas where his team missed their "mark."
"The truth is, the second half, [we] clearly missed the standard that we uphold for one another," Quinn said. "The blocked punt that led to a touchdown, sack forced-fumble that led to a touchdown, we only scored one time. Run game was not up to the standard that we hold one another too. Pass protection wasn't what we wanted [it] to be, third-down defensively was a problem. That's what I told the team."
"We just couldn't get off the field on third down," Campbell said. "We got them to third down, we just couldn't get off the field."
And as one of the leaders on the defense now, Campbell says it's all about the response right now.
"We just have to push through this," Campbell said. "We're going through a little funk right now and it happens but it's about how we respond to it. If we sit here and feel sorry for ourselves we're going to continue to lose. But if we go and make the changes we need to make then we'll be just fine."
Sitting at 1-4 with an important home NFC South matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming up next, the Falcons aren't worried about anything other than correcting what needs to be and moving on to Tampa.
"You can't look down the road," Julio Jones said. "It's one game at a time. That's it." The Steelers were 9-of-12 on third down and linebacker De'Vondre Campbell was very matter of the fact when asked about this statistic.
