By Morris Phillips

Big Ben’s no Teddy Bridgewater.

And the 49ers of Week 2 weren’t anywhere near the equal of the 49ers of Week 1.

All the familiar scheduling issues NFL teams detest were working against the 49ers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on Sunday.  Being the team on a short week, traveling east, with kickoff scheduled for 10am west coast time were the most obvious disadvantages the 49ers faced, but maybe the biggest obstacle was the physical nature of the Steelers and how capable they were.

More so than the Vikings were in Week 1.

It sure appeared to be the case as the Steelers raced to a 29-3 halftime lead on their way to an easy 43-18 result that had both teams 1-1, but only the 49ers left to face all the questions.

“We didn’t get it done, bottom line.  There’s no excuses.  But I did think the guys kept fighting through,” Coach Jim Tomsula said.

“Today we didn’t play our best football.  I think everyone knows that.  For us, we need to regroup, get ready for Arizona next week,” Colin Kaepernick admitted.

The 49ers suffered a frustrating afternoon offensively, in which they ran 77 plays and gained a respectable 409 yards but did little to impact the scoreboard outside two Kaepernick touchdown passes in the fourth quarter long after the game was decided.  The 49ers’ quarterback was pressured as frequently as he had been in any game in his previous three seasons as a starter as the team’s offensive line was often compromised by the Steelers’ stunts and blitzes from their front seven.

Two drives typified the 49ers’ fruitless afternoon.  In the first half, trailing 8-0, the 49ers ran 17 plays and nearly nine minutes off the clock, but had to settle for a 47-yard Phil Dawson field goal.  In the fourth quarter, the 49ers ran 18 plays but turned the ball over on downs at the one-yard line when Kaepernick couldn’t hookup with Bruce Miller on what would have been a touchdown pass on fourth down.

As badly as the Steelers treated Kaepernick, they were even more vicious with Carlos Hyde, who came hurtling back to earth after torching the Vikings for 168 yards rushing in Week 1.  The 49ers’ second-year starter at running back was knocked out of the game in the second quarter, evaluated for a head injury, and once cleared by independent physicians, Tomsula opted not to put his gifted runner back into the game.  Hyde finished with 43 yards on 13 carries, fewer than the 51 yards on nine carries that Kaepernick amassed scrambling away from the Steelers’ pass rush.

Of course, in a game this lopsided, what transpired offensively accounted for only half the 49ers’ dismal story. “Big Ben” Roethlisberger and the NFL’s best receiver and number one fantasy option, Antonio Brown, had performances that had statisticians reaching for their record books.  Roethlisberger completed five passes thrown at least 30 yards downfield, the first time that had happened in an NFL game in 10 years.  And Brown, Roethlisberger’s most frequent target for those throws, racked up nine catches for 195 yards.

Brown’s nine catches extended his NFL record for consecutive games with at least seven catches to 13.  The 49ers were well aware of Brown’s exploits coming in but got caught attempting to slow the receiver several times with single coverage.  And instead of veteran Tremaine Brock, Brown often got matched with rookie corner Kenneth Acker, who was overmatched.

The mismatches downfield didn’t stop with Brown.  In the second half, linebacker Michael Wilhoite got matched up with Steelers’ wide receiver Markus Wheaton on a deep ball that went for a 48-yard gain and had Wilhoite frustrated after the play trying to figure out why he didn’t have safety help.

The result?  Roethlisberger threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns on 21 of 27 passing, and he was barely touched throughout as the 49ers’ pass rush was missing in action.  DeAngelo Williams, the aging back best known for his time with Carolina, replaced the suspended Le’Veon Bell, and ran for three touchdowns.

And the 49ers’ response to all the Pittsburgh fireworks?  It may be Kaepernick’s 75-yard pass play to Torrey Smith that cut the Steelers’ lead to 36-18 in the fourth quarter.  And the significance of the play?  The touchdown pass was the first thrown by Kaepernick in the fourth quarter of a game in his career.

Needless to say, the 49ers have work to do.

Next week, the 49ers travel to Arizona to face the 2-0 Cardinals, the early leaders in the NFC West.