Hollywood should love this.

It's a story about a young football player who lets his team down by guaranteeing a victory against a team that could be the best of all time. This young player's words wake up a sleeping giant, firing up the opponent. During the game, this player is targeted and exploited by the opposition and becomes a national punchline as the opposition wins big.

We'll call this player Anthony Smith. I know the character will need a cooler name for the movie. I'll just use that generic name for now.
 

So the following week, this player's team is losing 22-7 at home. It looks like his team is going to lose at home for the first time all season and suffer its first two-game losing streak of the season. A steady snowfall creates a dramatic effect. Then, all of a sudden, Smith intercepts a pass and returns it 50 yards to set up a touchdown. This sparks a comeback. His team ties the score and wins. The white snowflakes in the background are replaced by these Terrible Towels that the team's fans like to wave, fans who are now looking forward to the playoffs. And none of this would have been possible without Smith going from a goat to a hero. What an inspirational story.

We could call it "The Bigmouth Redemption."

Well, Hollywood rejected my script. So did the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Actually, I didn't make up any of it, except for the, ahem, winning part. This was no happy ending. The Jaguars put the Steelers' playoff berth on hold with a 29-22 win Sunday at Heinz Field. This isn't looking like a storybook season for the Steelers (9-5). This is real life, and the harsh reality is the Steelers' offensive line parts like the Red Sea and their defense can't seem to stop the run anymore. The latter weakness was painfully apparent after the Steelers had come back to tie the score with 5:46 left in the game. Fred Taylor, who gained the most yards by a visiting player at Heinz Field with 147, gouged the Steelers' defense for runs of 9 and 13 yards to fuel the winning drive. Then on third-and-11 from the Steelers'  32, Maurice Jones-Drew, who hung another 69 yards on the Steelers' defense, broke free for 20 yards. Two plays later, Taylor ran it in from 12 yards out for the deciding touchdown with two minutes to go.

The offensive line, which gave up five more sacks Sunday, isn't a new problem. We're pretty much used to seeing Ben Roethlisberger running for his life. But the Steelers not being able to stop the run is like Michael Buffer not being able to say "Let's get ready to rumble!" Whatever weaknesses they've had, we could always count on them to stuff the run. Now, after not allowing a 100-yard rusher for two years, the Steelers have allowed two in the last five games. I knew losing Aaron Smith would hurt, but this much?

If any kind of movie premise works here, it would be a modern-day remake of a horror story in which Taylor slices and dices the Steelers' defense. Taylor also has the opponent record for rushing yards at Three Rivers Stadium. Bill Clinton was still president when Taylor gained 234 yards in a 34-24 Jaguars' win in 2000.
 

I'm going to go back two more years to find a season that unfolded the way this one might be unfolding. The Steelers looked like a playoff-caliber team in 1998, starting out 7-4. Then they lost five in a row to finish the season 7-9. I had a sinking feeling that season as I watched them lose and slowly realized they weren't good enough to make the playoffs. I'm getting that same feeling this season.

Since beating the Ravens 38-7 on Nov. 5, the Steelers' only convincing win came Dec. 2 by a 24-10 score over the Bengals. There was the dramatic 31-28 win over the Browns, but there was no dramatic win Sunday. It might be entertaining to watch a team come from behind, but repeatedly getting behind in the first place is the sign of a flawed team.

The most humiliating part of Sunday's loss was the Jaguars' 20-play, 74-yard drive to start the second half, which resulted in a touchdown and a 16-7 lead. That's the kind of thing the Steelers are supposed to do, and the Jaguars (10-4) did it right on the Steelers' home turf. The only bright spot for the Steelers these days is Willie Parker, who followed up his 124-yard performance against the Patriots with a 100-yard performance on 14 carries Sunday. Unfortunately, Roethlisberger and Parker are both going to have to play well as the Steelers try to secure that spot in the playoffs. Roethlisberger didn't do his part Sunday, completing just 16 of his 33 passes, although there were some drops.

The Steelers' remaining two games are on the road, where they haven't won since October. They play the Rams (3-11) on Thursday and the Ravens (4-10) on Dec. 30. Even though the Rams suck and the Ravens lost to the previously winless Dolphins, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Steelers lose these two games. It's never easy winning in Baltimore. Meanwhile, the Browns (9-5), who are tied with the Steelers atop the AFC North, are at Cincinnati (5-9) and home to San Francisco (4-10). I don't see the Browns losing either of those games, which means the Steelers pretty much have to win their last two if they want to win the division.

A playoff berth isn't a lock for the Steelers, and it's no time for an Anthony Smith guarantee.