The Pittsburgh Steelers can’t go away from Monday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills and say they never had a shot. After spotting the Bills 21 points in the first half, the Steelers fought back, getting as close as 24-17 but some ugly football in the fourth quarter gave the Bills all they needed to secure the win and send the Steelers packing 31-17 and their playoff win drought continues.

After a slow start, quarterback Mason Rudolph got going and kept the Steelers in it but a failure to establish the run game really did the offense in. Meanwhile the Bills rushing attack of James Cook and Josh Allen just gashed a Pittsburgh defense that struggled again to tackle. The absence of outside linebacker T.J. Watt was felt and no one stepped up in his absence.

With this loss, the Steelers remain winless in the playoffs since 2016 and now must head into the offseason with more questions than answers about how to make this team competitive beyond the regular season.

Story originally appeared on Steelers Wire