The Steelers lost to a declining but still stacked Cowboys team 37-7 at Three Rivers Stadium. New starting QB. Nothing went right that game. That team ended up pulling it together to reach the AFC Championship game.
The 49ers are a championship team in the midst of a window and they took a young Steelers team to school. Tomlin had the right idea to play the starters all preseason, but they faced minimal resistance with no kinks to work on. The team was going in wound up and tight, and when the first INT happened (Thanks DJ), the wind went out of the sails and things snowballed from there. The normally-cool Pickett was rattled and missed very easy and routine throws the rest of the game. KP made the right read, but was way too out of sync with his receivers. This is probably his single worst game since entering the NFL.
We can blame Canada, We can blame Pickett, but simply put everyone just wasn't good and the 49ers were just better. The Steelers outmatched by a far superior opponent. The team has adversity out of the gate. Time to respond. 16 games to go.