The Browns’ Isaiah Crowell runs for a second-quarter touchdown ahead of Cortez Allen on Sunday. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CLEVELAND — When will Ben Roethlisberger blow his top?

And really, why hasn’t he done so already?

I’m left with a litany of questions, criticisms and outright kicks to the teeth for how miserably the Steelers performed Sunday in this 31-10 throttling by the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium, from Mike Tomlin’s preparation to Todd Haley’s comical offensive playcalling to Dick LeBeau’s defense … well, having its own top blown off twice … to pretty much all 53 players.

This was flat-out sickening in nearly every facet.

It was Tampa times 10, London times 11, getting Tebowed by 12. Because at least that last one happened in the playoffs, a plateau this team might not revisit for another decade at this pace.

As Brett Keisel bluntly put it, “We took one on the chin today.”

From the Browns, no less.

And yet, even among all that misery, nothing sore-thumbed its way through quite like the incongruous ineptitude of the Haley offense, which turned out 359 total yards but checked out yet again — 0 for 3 — in the red zone. There was no rhythm, no rhyme to what they did, and the Steelers now, remarkably, rank fourth in the NFL in total yardage and 26th in red-zone offense.

MORE

Le’Veon Bell bursts around the Browns’ defense in the Steelers’ opening victory Sept. 7. — GETTY IMAGES

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Parsing the words of professional coaches and athletes, even the polished executives, is almost always a fool’s errand. These people are quoted more often than the president, and yet they’re not at all trained in public speaking, nor are they remotely prepared in their remarks.

That said, I’m about to parse Ben Roethlisberger, and brazenly so, if only because I’ve long believed that’s the best way to get to the bottom of what’s really churning underneath that helmet.

This was his response today, before the Steelers’ practice on the South Side, when I rather bluntly asked if this offense behaved at its most aggressive in that magical first half of the season opener against the Browns:

MORE

Ben Roethlisberger scrambles away from Andre Branch and Roy Miller III Sunday at EverBank Field. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The scoreboard doesn’t lie, right?

And if any scoreboard actually were capable of getting away with a lie, it sure wouldn’t be here. Not with the world’s two largest scoreboards having been installed this summer at EverBank Field, one at either end, each absolutely towering above the place at 360 feet long, 60 feet tall.

So, let’s start there: Steelers 17, Jaguars 9

No lie.

But neither was it a lie in the immediate aftermath when Ben Roethlisberger, sporting a delightful pinstriped lavender suit that was anything but a happy match for his pained expression, spoke these five simple words: “We need to get better.”

And then, after a momentary pause: “That includes me. I need to get better.”

Ain’t that the truth?

Say what you will about the defense bouncing back from the Tampa Bay debacle and at least doing the job against legitimately promising Blake Bortles and the young Jaguars. Brice McCain’s pick-six was the decisive dagger. Cortez Allen, back to competence after a bungling game against the Bucs, had his own interception, seven tackles and three passes defensed. Jason Worilds, back from … I don’t know … the astral realm, recorded a sack and bullied Bortles all day. Lawrence Timmons was everywhere. Brett Keisel had a huge pass block late. They weren’t alone.

MORE