2009 Pittsburgh Steelers Season

Season Summary: Fresh off their 6th Super Bowl, the Steelers came in loaded with expectations. Roethlisberger threw for over 4,300 yards, capped by a record-setting 503 against Green Bay, and Mike Wallace emerged as a lethal deep threat. But while the offense piled up numbers, the season slipped away in maddening fashion.

The defense wasn't the same without Troy Polamalu, who missed most of the year with injuries. They couldn't close out games. Five times, they let 4th-quarter leads vanish, turning wins into losses. Special teams only deepened the misery. Josh Cribbs and Bernard Scott each took kicks to the house, Jeff Reed missed costly field goals in Chicago, and coverage lapses piled up. Week after week, the little mistakes added up.

What followed was a 5-game losing streak that defined the year: they dropped divisional games to Cinci and Baltimore and fell to 2-7 Kansas City, 3-8 Oakland, and a 1-11 Cleveland team in the wind and cold on national TV. Even a late surge, highlighted by Ben's miracle last-play strike to Wallace to beat Green Bay couldn't save them. The defending champs finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs, undone by collapses, special teams failures, and the absence of their defensive heart in Polamalu.