PITTSBURGH -- Ramon Foster knows the drill, even if its one the Pittsburgh Steelers have been largely able to avoid most of the last four-plus decades.When a team that began September with realistic Super Bowl expectations finds itself listing as Thanksgiving nears like the Steelers (4-5) are following a late defensive meltdown cost them against Dallas on Sunday, drama -- either real or imagined -- is sure to follow.Its why Foster found himself at his locker on Monday answering questions about everything from the teams confidence in coach Mike Tomlin to quarterback Ben Roethlisbergers grousing about accountability.When you have that type of hype and you dont live up to it in the middle of the season, you kind of lose a lot people, Foster said. Im OK with that. Well be fine.Eventually perhaps, but not at the moment. While Foster remains resolute that theres time for Pittsburgh to get it together -- starting with a trip on Sunday to winless Cleveland (0-10) -- he understands the angst. The Steelers were supposed to challenge Denver and New England for AFC supremacy. Instead theyre under .500 and behind underwhelming Baltimore in the blah AFC North.The thing we cant do is bury ourselves, Foster said. At this point it seems everybody is against us.Yet Foster stressed the Steelers are not against themselves. Asked if hes aware of a sense of growing dissatisfaction from the outside about Tomlin, Foster just shrugged his shoulders.Its easy to do that, Foster said. You go for the head. If (anything) goes wrong, it rolls from the top down.Foster thinks the blame is better resting elsewhere, namely on the 53 men who are in the middle of a four-game slide thats removed all of the good vibes surrounding a 4-1 start. He has little issue with Tomlins decision to attempt four 2-point conversions, even if all of them failed.Id do it again though, Foster said. We practice it. Whos to say, maybe itll work for us in the Super Bowl?Foster punctuated the response with a smile. Considering the state of the division, the Steelers are hardly out of it. Yet they hardly look like a team capable of making any sort of postseason noise should they even manage to make it.They did at times against the Cowboys, taking an early nine-point lead and twice scoring touchdowns to go in front in the fourth quarter. If either of those touchdowns hold up -- LeVeon Bells lunging 1-yard dive or Roethlisbergers fake spike that turned into a 15-yard lob to Antonio Brown -- Pittsburgh is back above .500 after knocking off the hottest team in the NFL.Its a razor thin margin between narratives and it doesnt take someone whos been around like Foster to figure it out. Its why rookie safety Sean Davis couldnt stop replaying the 15-yard facemask penalty on Cowboys tight end Jason Witten that set the stage for Ezekiel Elliotts clinching 32-yard sprint with 9 seconds to go.Yeah, it ate me up a little bit last night, Davis said. But its over. Cant do anything about it right now. You shouldnt see any more facemask penalties for me for a very long time.Thats Davis trying to hold himself accountable, an issue Roethlisberger hinted at in frustration in the middle of a quiet Pittsburgh locker room Sunday afternoon. Roethlisberger called his team undisciplined and not accountable but declined to get into specifics, simply calling it a feeling.Foster described Roethlisbergers message as simply take on your own battles first, meaning handle your business before worrying about someone elses. Of course the tenor changes completely if Dallas doesnt score last.Thats the NFL, linebacker Arthur Moats said. Theres no moral victories. Its pass/fail. We understand that coming in ... we know the type of team that we have. We know the potential we have.Theyre running out of time to show it. Four of Pittsburghs next five games are on the road and even the luckless Browns hardly seem like a pushover for a team that hasnt won away from Heinz Field since Week 1.At this point wed be very idiotic to think Cleveland is not going to play us as hard as they can, Foster said. Theyre 0-8 or 0-9 and were freaking 0-4 in our last four games. Theyre going to be chomping at the bit.---For more NFL coverage:
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