PITTSBURGH — The kind of ground the Green Bay Packers gave up Sunday at Heinz Field Sunday could have paved a swath all the way from here to New Orleans or Minnesota or Arizona or Philadelphia — all places the defense is clearly not ready to go.

Not after the aerial assault Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger commanded in a stunning 37-36 victory.
The formerly No. 2-ranked Packers defense showed exactly where it’s vulnerable and where it will be exposed if its lucky enough to play one of the aforementioned offensive juggernauts in the playoffs.
A secondary that once was the strength of defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ defense is now a big cushy soft spot that big-time quarterbacks like Roethlisberger can complete 29 of 46 passes for 503 yards and three touchdowns. You can only imagine how many playoff quarterbacks are drooling over an opportunity to play against the Packers.
“At this point, we have to make the playoffs,” said cornerback Charles Woodson, when asked if this was the kind of game the defense might face in the playoffs. “Our postseason is not solidified. This was a tough loss for us. We have another opportunity to get back work. We took our lumps today.”
The Packers have been able to hold up against the likes of Tony Romo, Alex Smith, Matthew Stafford, Joe Flacco and Jay Cutler, but Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl winner and though the Steelers were on a five-game losing streak, he can still take advantage of mismatches when he sees them.
In passing for the most yards in a game in Steelers history, Roethlisberger completed 10 passes of 20 or more yards, which didn’t include his best one, a 19-yard strike to Mike Wallace with no time left on the clock. Once Jeff Reed kicked the extra point, the Steelers had a one-point victory.
“We gave up a big play to the start the game and that got the crowd going,” Capers said, referring to a 60-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Wallace on the Steelers’ first play from scrimmage. “We gave up too many big plays and we didn’t make enough plays. We’re going to have to take a look at it, correct our mistakes and then put it behind us.”
It might be hard to do that.
The secondary can’t blame this on not enough pressure on the quarterback. Roethlisberger was sacked five times, although he continually kept plays alive with his feet and gave his receivers time to get open. But there were too many times the Packers just got beat in the secondary.
It was finally evident how much the defense is feeling the loss of veteran cornerback Al Harris. His departure meant nickel back Tramon Williams has moved up to starter and dime back Jarrett Bush has moved into the nickel.
On this day, Bush was exposed for his poor play on the ball and lack of natural instincts playing corner. He gave up the 60-yard touchdown to Wallace, a 54-yard deep ball to receiver Hines Ward and a crucial 20-yard completion to tight end Heath Miller on the game-winning drive.
“One of the things you have to keep doing is coming back,” Bush said. “No matter what happens, you have to do that. As a defense we have to have a short memory. They made the last play and that was the difference.”
Bush’s day got off to a horrible start when he looked back for the ball way too early as Wallace ran a go route down the right sideline. When he looked up, he slowed down and Wallace ran right past him for an easy touchdown.
“I tried to look for the ball,” Bush said. “You can’t get caught peeking. He’s a decent receiver, but I’ve got to stick to the coverage and keep going.”
By no means was Bush the only offender.
The final play came down to Josh Bell’s mistake in what was a man-under defense with three-deep safety help behind it. Under no circumstances was Bell supposed to allow Wallace to get in front of him because he had safety Atari Bigby behind him if the ball was thrown over his head.
But Bell let Wallace come back for the ball and he made a diving catch with his toes scraping the end zone for the game-winner.
“You have to play underneath,” Capers said. “He made a nice catch. They ended up beating our coverage and we lost the game.”
There were many other breakdowns along the way.
Woodson played in the slot most of the time and even he had some difficulties. He got called for two holding penalties and looked to have some responsibility in a 32-yard catch receiver Santonio Holmes had on the game-winning drive.
Linebacker Nick Barnett had coverage underneath and Woodson was trailing over the top. Barnett dove to try to break the pass up, but missed and Holmes raced all the way to the Packers 46-yard line.
Tight end Heath Miller, meanwhile, gave the Packers fits and finished with seven catches for 118 yards. Linebacker A.J. Hawk struggled to cover him all day long and gave up a 27-yard catch in the first half. Linebacker Brandon Chillar played the most in the nickel package and similarly had problems, although most of his were penalty related.
He tried to be physical with Miller and he lost.
“He (Roethlisberger) is always moving around, sliding around,” Hawk said. “When he does that, he makes a lot of plays. You can’t say we didn’t have any pressure on him. The guys upfront did a great job.
“(Miller) ran some good routes. They found a way to get him involved.”
The overall depth in the secondary is clearly a problem and will continue to be so the rest of the year. If the Packers are lucky enough to play against Drew Brees or Kurt Warner or Donovan McNabb or Brett Favre, they’re going to have to find a way to plug up some holes.