Will the Steelers be able to defend their Super Bowl title?

The Pittsburgh Steelers laid another egg, this time against the horrendous Oakland Raiders, trailing 27-24 on a late touchdown after taking a 24-20 lead with less than two minutes left in the game.

The Steelers are now 6-6 and have lost four games in a row, including against really bad teams from the AFC West, the Kansas City Chiefs (also 27-24) and now the Oakland Raiders.

With their schedule, Pittsburgh should have had no problem making the playoffs this year and getting a chance to defend last year’s Super Bowl title. Now, it will be hard for them to even make the playoffs, let alone make another run for a Super Bowl title.

The Steelers’ vaunted defense isn’t what it used to be. They don’t make any big plays (zero interceptions by their cornerbacks this year) and they don’t make any big stops at all.

The Bengals went on an eleven-play drive to clinch a win with a field goal after a nine-play drive to kick the go-ahead field goal.

The Chiefs went 91 yards in 8 plays to score a touchdown and force overtime (which they won on a field goal).

The Baltimore Ravens went 10 plays in one minute and forty-seven seconds to score a touchdown with nine seconds remaining.

The Steelers took a 24-20 lead over the Raiders with 1:56 remaining in the game. Pittsburgh then let the Oakland Raiders — yes, the OAKLAND RAIDERS — drive down the field and score the game-winning touchdown.

The Steelers’ defense has let them down this year and I don’t know if it can be corrected in time to make a playoff run, let alone a playoff run.

One last note. Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu has missed seven games due to injuries this year and the Steelers have lost six of them. I ask you, can one player on defense really make that much of a difference?

Maybe Troy should get MVP this year, even though he hasn’t played much. After all, the Steelers are 1-6 without him and 5-0 with him. That is not only valuable. That is essential.