Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger certainly defends his teammates, and takes losses on himself far more often than pushing it onto someone else.

Is he perhaps being a bit too cavalier in his defense of his offensive line?

"I thought they did a great job," he said. "It's tough to lose letting those guys down."

He didn't save any of that for offensive coordinator Todd Haley. While he's not indicting the entire offensive game plan, he was particularly blunt about the play call that eventually led to his 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Heath Miller.

"They play that got called, well, they went to a prevent defense so the play that got called wasn't a good play. At all."

Roethlisberger went on to explain what he and Miller did, but no follow up question was asked, or at least none was recorded, about at what point the Cowboys "went to a prevent defense." The drive was a two-minute drill late in the first half, so it could be Roethlisberger's opinion the play was a poor decision, considering what Haley should have seen during the drive.

Teams don't typically audible to a "prevent defense," so it seems Roethlisberger is questioning the call itself.

That doesn't mean Haley should lose his job, but there was clearly some bitterness there.

And the No Huddle offense?

"That's tough for me to answer right now," he said. "The second half we didn't do much of it, and that's disappointing."

What's disappointing was the overall offensive performance, short of two big plays - the touchdown to Miller and a 60-yard strike to Mike Wallace. Whether that's the playcall or execution or, most likely, both, everyone will be upset after a loss like that.

Follow @NealCoolong